Course overview
- Study period
- Semester 1, 2025 (24/02/2025 - 21/06/2025)
- Study level
- Postgraduate Coursework
- Location
- External
- Attendance mode
- Online
- Units
- 2
- Administrative campus
- Gatton
- Coordinating unit
- Agriculture and Food Sustainability School
Integration of science, practice and management for animal production of selected species that embraces an environmental awareness. Advanced concepts that explore the boundaries of animal science and production.
This course will focus on advanced topics in Animal Production Science and include information on all domestic livestock species (beef and dairy cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, poultry) and aquaculture. The aim of this course is to give you a broad overview of the current issues facing animal production for food and give opportunities for you to develop your skills in critical thinking through analysis of current research papers and written and oral scientific communication. There is a growing global demand for animal protein (milk and meat) and in response animal scientists are developing strategies to increase productivity in an environmentally and economically sustainable way. We also need to balance the need for efficient production with animal well-being and ethics.
Course requirements
Incompatible
You can't enrol in this course if you've already completed the following:
ANIM3012
Jointly taught details
This course is jointly-taught with:
- Another instance of the same course
This course shares content and activities with ANIM7001 In Person, and there are minimal differences between offerings.
Course contact
Course staff
Lecturer
Guest lecturer
Timetable
Additional timetable information
Face to face lectures will occur weekly and recordings will be available after the lecture.
Aims and outcomes
This course allows students to undertake an in depth study in an area of animal production science.
Learning outcomes
After successfully completing this course you should be able to:
LO1.
Develop expertise in a specific area of animal production science.
LO2.
Process and critically analyse scientific publications.
LO3.
Provide a well written scientific report, or review.
LO4.
Effectively communicate via a presentation your knowledge on a specific topic related to Animal Production Science.
Assessment
Assessment summary
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay/ Critique |
Advanced Study in Animal Production Science 1
|
35% |
2/04/2025 4:00 pm |
| Paper/ Report/ Annotation |
Advanced Study in Animal Production Science 2
|
35% |
7/05/2025 4:00 pm |
| Presentation |
Power Point Presentation
|
30% |
21/05/2025 4:00 pm |
Assessment details
Advanced Study in Animal Production Science 1
- Online
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Essay/ Critique
- Weight
- 35%
- Due date
2/04/2025 4:00 pm
Task description
Assignment 1.
Marks: 35% of the course
Word length: Approximately 3000 words – excluding references.
Topic: Essay
There is a lot of information being dispersed regarding the benefits to the environment of removing beef from diets and replacing it with chicken or pork as a protein source. This is due to the perceived higher impacts (particularly greenhouse gas emissions) of production of 1 kg of beef vs 1 kg of pork or chicken. However, beef is often produced using land or feed that cannot be utilised by humans whereas poultry or pork systems utilise grains and protein sources that may otherwise be used for human nutrition and may have other adverse impacts on the environment including on biodiversity. Please discuss the relative impacts of extensive beef production versus intensive monogastric systems.
There are a number of journals you can use to explore this topic area such as: Animal Frontiers, Journal of Animal Science, Production Animal Science, Animals, Animal, International Journal of Biometeorology, Journal of Dairy Science – there are more!
Resources will be available on the course Blackboard site.
Scientific journal articles are to be used for the assignment – as a guide, about 20 scientific articles should be used. You are not to use more than three (3) website "articles" for the assignment and any website resources should be from reputable organisations.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Translation (MT) are emerging tools that may support students in completing this assessment task. Students may appropriately use AI and/or MT in completing this assessment task. Students must clearly reference any use of AI or MT in each instance.
A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Submission guidelines
You must submit your Assessment task, in Blackboard, via the Turnitin link by the submission deadline. You should also retain an electronic copy of every piece of assessment you submit.
Legal Declaration
By submitting your work via this website, you formally declare that (1) it is your own original work, and no part of the work has been copied from any other source or person except where due acknowledgement is made; (2) no part of the work has been previously submitted for assessment in this or any other institution; and (3) you have read the Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy (https://policies.uq.edu.au/document/view-current.php?id=149) and understand its implications.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Assessment deadlines are firm and must be met. Late submission without permission or non-submission of assessable work will result in penalties being applied. Late submission of assessment will only be granted for documented medical reasons, accident, bereavement, jury service and other circumstances allowed in the UQ Policies and Procedures Library (PPL).
Submission of an Extension of Assessment Due Date (EADD) should be completed online through your My Requests tab via my.UQ Dashboard before the due date of the assessment item.
Advanced Study in Animal Production Science 2
- Online
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Paper/ Report/ Annotation
- Weight
- 35%
- Due date
7/05/2025 4:00 pm
Task description
Assignment 2.
Marks: 35% of the course
Word length: Approximately 3000 words - excluding references.
Topic: Review of Scientific Papers
For this task you are required to review and summarise two (2) papers from the scientific literature on a topic related to Animal Production Science (APS). For example, heat stress in dairy cows, welfare issues in free-range poultry, the impact of climate change on livestock production. It is your choice as to the topic area that you want to investigate, so really whatever you are interested in. Do not just focus on the examples. If you are not sure if the topic is relevant to please contact Dr Eyre for assistance.
You are to find 2 recent articles (i.e. from the years 2020 to 2025), from the scientific literature (i.e. from journals e.g. International Journal of Biometeorology, Journal of Animal Science, Journal of Dairy Science, Animal Production Science) which discuss aspects of an issue related to animal production. The articles should be the published results of a study i.e. they will have an introduction, materials and methods, results and discussion. Do not use an article that is a discussion or review paper.
For this assessment you are to: Identify how and why the research was carried out – and to critically review each paper (n=2).
Read the articles carefully and use the questions below to help you identify how and why the research was carried out. Look at the following sections from each paper and answer the questions:
Introduction (2 marks)
- What was the objectives/aims/hypothesis of the study?
Materials & Methods (16 marks)
- If animals were used, did they provide animal ethics approval information?
- What was the experimental method e.g. Randomised Block Design?
- Was the study replicated?
- What methods were used to accomplish the objectives or aims (e.g., systematic recording of observations, analysis and evaluation of published research, assessment of theory, etc.)?
- What techniques were used and how was each technique performed?
- What kind of data can be obtained using each technique?
- How is such data interpreted?
- What kind of information is produced by using the technique?
Results (10 marks)
- What objective evidence was obtained from the authors’ efforts (observations, measurements, etc.)?
- What were the results of the study?
- How was each technique used to obtain each result?
- Which statistical tests were used to evaluate the significance of the conclusions based on numeric or graphic data?
- How did each result contribute to answering the question or testing the hypothesis raised in the introduction?
Discussion (12 marks)
- Were the authors able to answer the question (confirm/disprove the hypothesis)?
- How were the results interpreted? Was the discussion based on the authors view of the evidence rather than on the objective findings of the trial?
- Did the research provide new factual information, a new understanding of a phenomenon in the field, or a new research technique?
- How was the significance of the work described?
- Do the authors relate the findings in the study to other literature in the field? If yes, did the evidence presented support or refute observations or interpretations made by other researchers?
These questions have been adapted from the following sources:
University of Guelph - https://guides.lib.uoguelph.ca/c.php?g=708045&p=5041271
Kuyper, B.J. (1991). Bringing up scientists in the art of critiquing research. Bioscience 41(4), 248-250. http://www.sfu.ca/biology/courses/bisc830/Kuyper_1991.pdf
You will need to provide a full reference (i.e. authors, date, title, journal, volume number and page numbers), for each paper that you have used.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Translation (MT) are emerging tools that may support students in completing this assessment task. Students may appropriately use AI and/or MT in completing this assessment task. Students must clearly reference any use of AI or MT in each instance.
A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Submission guidelines
You must submit your Assessment task, in Blackboard, via the Turnitin link by the submission deadline. You should also retain an electronic copy of every piece of assessment you submit.
Legal Declaration:
By submitting your work via this website, you formally declare that (1) it is your own original work, and no part of the work has been copied from any other source or person except where due acknowledgement is made; (2) no part of the work has been previously submitted for assessment in this or any other institution; and (3) you have read the Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy (https://policies.uq.edu.au/document/view-current.php?id=149) and understand its implications.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Assessment deadlines are firm and must be met. Late submission without permission or non-submission of assessable work will result in penalties being applied. Late submission of assessment will only be granted for documented medical reasons, accident, bereavement, jury service and other circumstances allowed in the UQ Policies and Procedures Library (PPL).
Submission of an Extension of Assessment Due Date (EADD) should be completed online through your My Requests tab via my.UQ Dashboard before the due date of the assessment item.
Power Point Presentation
- Identity Verified
- Online
- Mode
- Activity/ Performance, Oral
- Category
- Presentation
- Weight
- 30%
- Due date
21/05/2025 4:00 pm
Task description
For the seminar, you are to choose any topic that is relevant to Animal Production Science. You can check with Dr Karen Eyre if you are not sure if the topic is appropriate. You will prepare a 15-minute presentation using PowerPoint (pptx) or another platform such as ZOOM. You will be required to record your presentation. As this assessment is identity-verified you will need to appear in the entire recorded presentation, a voice over only is not acceptable.
As a rule, you should have no more than 1 slide per minute of talking e.g. a 15 min talk = 15 slides.
In addition to these slides, you will need a cover slide with the title of your presentation and your name and a final slide showing references.
A marking criteria is presented below.
Criteria & Marking:
Marking Criteria – ANIM7001 Presentation
Presentation = 30%
(i) Power Point Presentation: 5% Quality and format of slides, font is >20 point and there are no spelling errors
(ii) Seminar - Presentation: 20%
Introduction – introduce yourself, please include a little bit of background on why you are interested in animal science
Topic – outline of what you will be speaking about and why it is important
Discussion of what you have found
Conclusion
(iii) Seminar - Speaker presentation style: 5% have you fully articulated the material that is presented on the slides?
This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Submission guidelines
The online assessment is completed within Blackboard under the appropriate assessment title on your course Blackboard site.
Legal Declaration:
By submitting your work via this website, you formally declare that (1) it is your own original work, and no part of the work has been copied from any other source or person except where due acknowledgement is made; (2) no part of the work has been previously submitted for assessment in this or any other institution; and (3) you have read the Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy (https://policies.uq.edu.au/document/view-current.php?id=149) and understand its implications.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Assessment deadlines are firm and must be met. Late submission without permission or non-submission of assessable work will result in penalties being applied. Late submission of assessment will only be granted for documented medical reasons, accident, bereavement, jury service and other circumstances allowed in the UQ Policies and Procedures Library (PPL).
Submission of an Extension of Assessment Due Date (EADD) should be completed online through your My Requests tab via my.UQ Dashboard before the due date of the assessment item.
Course grading
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Grade | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 (Low Fail) |
Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 0% - 34% |
| 2 (Fail) |
Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 35% - 46% |
| 3 (Marginal Fail) |
Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes Course grade description: 47% - 49% |
| 4 (Pass) |
Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 50% - 64% |
| 5 (Credit) |
Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 65% - 74% |
| 6 (Distinction) |
Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 75% - 84% |
| 7 (High Distinction) |
Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 85% - 100% |
Supplementary assessment
Supplementary assessment is available for this course.
Should you fail a course with a grade of 3, you may be eligible for supplementary assessment. Refer to my.UQ for information on supplementary assessment and how to apply.
Supplementary assessment provides an additional opportunity to demonstrate you have achieved all the required learning outcomes for a course.
If you apply and are granted supplementary assessment, the type of supplementary assessment set will consider which learning outcome(s) have not been met.
Supplementary assessment can take any form (such as a written report, oral presentation, examination or other appropriate assessment) and may test specific learning outcomes tailored to the individual student, or all learning outcomes.
To receive a passing grade of 3S4, you must obtain a mark of 50% or more on the supplementary assessment.
Additional assessment information
Please note the following when writing assignments
You must not re-use past work from previous assessments in your assignments.
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
All reported work must be done by the individual student. Assignments that look and sound alike will be reported as plagiarism – a serious offence at UQ. Please note the university’s policy on academic integrity and plagiarism which can be accessed at Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy.
Turnitin
Assignments that are required to be submitted through TurnItIn, must only be uploaded to the assessment specific Turnitin link on the relevant course Blackboard site. If you submit any version of your assessment item to any alternative Turnitin link, this is considered cheating and you will be held liable for this action.ﾠ
Release of marks
Unless specifically indicated by the course coordinator,ﾠevery attempt will be madeﾠto haveﾠthe results for progressive assessment available within 3 weeks of submission. For items of assessment submitted in the last 2 weeks of the semester, the results will not be available until grades release day. Results and feedback availability will be advised to you by email or announced via the course Blackboard site.
Feedback in this course
Feedback is welcome in this course as any information on how students find this learning experience is constructive.
Please use the evaluation form provided to you at the end of semester - or if you are enrolled internally, a course evaluation process will occur in the last few weeks of semester.
Re-mark Applications – refer to the University's Re-mark Policy to check your eligibility
- Before applying for a remark, students should consider the following:
- You have consulted the course coordinator for feedback
- Your academic grounds for remark have been discussed and are valid
- Wanting a higher grade is not grounds for a remark. A remark can decrease your grade.
Remark applications will not be considered without first having contacted your course Co-ordinator.ﾠ
Deferred and Supplementary assessment (including Deferred In-Semester Examinations)
Deferred and Supplementary information can be located on theﾠmy.UQﾠwebsite
Learning resources
You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.
Library resources
Library resources are available on the UQ Library website.
Other course materials
If we've listed something under further requirement, you'll need to provide your own.
Required
| Item | Description | Further Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| ANIM7001 Course Blackboard Site | Blackboard is the main method of communication for this course. | |
| ANIM7001 Course Profile | Provides details of specifications, rationale, aims and structure of the course. It also informs you of the assessment for this course, including weighting and due dates. |
Learning activities
The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.
Filter activity type by
Please select
| Learning period | Activity type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
Multiple weeks From Week 1 To Week 13 |
Lecture |
Lecture Series The lecture series will cover the topics listed under the sub-activities. Please refer to the course blackboard site for the full details. Sub-activity: Animal production in a changing climate (Dr Karen Eyre) Animal welfare and ethics (Dr Karen Eyre) Animal breeding and reproduction (Dr Karen Eyre) Introduction to genetics (Dr Christie Warburton) Epigenetics (Dr Karen Eyre) Nutrition (Dr Karen Eyre) Heat stress (Dr Angela Lees) Alternatives to Animal Products (Dr Karen Eyre) Animal Impacts on the Environment (Dr Karen Eyre) Sustainability in intensive animal systems - pigs and poultry (Dr Marta Navarro) Sustainability in aquaculture (Dr Karen Eyre) Sustainable grazing and drought management (Dr Karen Eyre) Animals as a part of sustainable environmental management (Dr Karen Eyre) |
Policies and procedures
University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:
- Student Code of Conduct Policy
- Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
- Assessment Procedure
- Examinations Procedure
- Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.