Special Studies in Food Science & Technology (FOOD7024)

Assessment 1: Report

Word limit is 2500-3000 words (excluding references). Include the word count on the cover page.

Topics: Assignment topics will be determined through consultation with the Course Coordinator. 

General information

In the assignments, students are expected to present a good coverage of the information available on their topic. This includes information from various sources, including textbooks, reference books, encyclopaedias, and journal articles and reviews. Presentation of recent information on the selected topics will be looked at particularly favourably. In many cases, recent journal articles will contain useful references to consult. Websites can also be valuable sources if used cautiously (avoid Wiki websites as they are not peer-reviewed). Academic staff may provide guidelines for assignment content.

A major tool for searching for information are the databases. Many of these are available in electronic form through the university library website; it is essential that you know how to use these to search for the information you require. FSTA, CAB and Web of Science are major databases relevant to food science, but several others may be useful (Google Scholar). Contact library staff if you are uncertain how to use the databases or which to use. Also, remember that a lot of very good information was generated before the electronic databases appeared (~1970), and hard copy abstracts such as Food Science and Technology Abstracts (FSTA) are the easiest way of accessing this information.

The assignment must be prepared in your own words. Do not copy directly from your sources. Evidence of this will attract a severe penalty.

Format and Organization of Assignment

The assignment should:

• be typed using size 12 font and single line spacing.
• contain the number of words specified by the course coordinator (exclusive of cover sheet, figures, tables and references). Marks may be deducted for assignments that are unacceptably short or excessively long.
• be in a clear, easy-to-follow style and language and be free of spelling and grammatical mistakes.
• be logically set out with appropriate flow charts, tables, diagrams, figures, appendices etc. Tables, charts and diagrams should be appropriately titled and numbered. Titles should be under figures but above tables. If figures and tables are not your work, their source must be acknowledged underneath and referenced in the bibliography.

and consist of

• Title page: including course name and code, assignment title, due date, word count, student name and ID number.
• Contents page: including table of contents, list of tables, and a list of figures as appropriate. 
• Introduction to the topic
• Main body with suitable subheadings to separate sections and main points. All the headings and subheadings should be numbered, e.g. 1.0, 1.1, 1.1.1.
• Summary/conclusion
• Bibliography/List of References

Form of assignment

The assignments are expected to be submitted electronically.

References

Use an accepted referencing format in the text and the bibliography, such as the Harvard system. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/training/citation/harvard_6.pdf. Be consistent with the format. If you doubt how references are cited and listed, consult the course coordinator and look up journal articles. 

Some referencing issues

• The bibliography must contain all the references cited in the text.
• All references in the bibliography must be referred to in the text.
• Initials of authors must not be used in references cited in the text.
• The term ‘et al.’ stands for ‘et alia’ (‘and others’) and is an abbreviation. It should thus be written as et al. The italics are used because it is a Latin phrase. Examples of use – (Brown et al., 2004) or Brown et al., 2004
• A full stop is NOT used before a reference cited in the text.
• Distinguish between references with the same author(s) and year. This is done by using a, b, c etc., e.g. Brown and Jones, 2004a, Brown and Jones, 2004b
• The names of organisations should be written in full the first time they are used, together with their abbreviation, which can be used subsequently. e.g. “The body who develops and maintains the Food Standards Code is Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). The seafood standard is currently being developed (FSANZ, 2005).” Otherwise, the full name with abbreviation should be cited in the text. In any case, the full name with an abbreviation should be used in the reference list.
• Websites should be referenced in the text like any other source with an author and a year. Do not put the URL in the text. An author can be a person or an organisation. In the bibliography or reference list, as well as the author and year, give the document's name and/or the URL plus the date of access since websites can change. Remember, most websites are not scientifically validated, so information from websites, including Wikipedia, should be used cautiously.
• References should be listed in alphabetical order.
• The way references are cited in the text should match how they are cited in the reference list.

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.

Criteria & Marking:

UQ Students: Please access the profile from Learn.UQ or mySI-net to access marking criteria held in this profile.

Assessment 2: Report

Word limit is 2500-3000 words (excluding references). Include the word count on the cover page.

Topics: Assignment topics will be determined through consultation with the Course Coordinator. 

General information

In the assignments, students are expected to present a good coverage of the information available on their topic. This includes information from various sources, including textbooks, reference books, encyclopaedias, and journal articles and reviews. Presentation of recent information on the selected topics will be looked at particularly favourably. In many cases, recent journal articles will contain useful references to consult. Websites can also be valuable sources if used cautiously (avoid Wiki websites as they are not peer-reviewed). Academic staff may provide guidelines for assignment content.

A major tool for searching for information are the databases. Many of these are available in electronic form through the university library website; it is essential that you know how to use these to search for the information you require. FSTA, CAB and Web of Science are major databases relevant to food science, but several others may be useful (Google Scholar). Contact library staff if you are uncertain how to use the databases or which to use. Also, remember that a lot of very good information was generated before the electronic databases appeared (~1970), and hard copy abstracts such as Food Science and Technology Abstracts (FSTA) are the easiest way of accessing this information.

The assignment must be prepared in your own words. Do not copy directly from your sources. Evidence of this will attract a severe penalty.

Format and Organization of Assignment

The assignment should:

• be typed using size 12 font and single line spacing.
• contain the number of words specified by the course coordinator (exclusive of cover sheet, figures, tables and references). Marks may be deducted for assignments that are unacceptably short or excessively long.
• be in a clear, easy-to-follow style and language and be free of spelling and grammatical mistakes.
• be logically set out with appropriate flow charts, tables, diagrams, figures, appendices etc. Tables, charts and diagrams should be appropriately titled and numbered. Titles should be under figures but above tables. If figures and tables are not your work, their source must be acknowledged underneath and referenced in the bibliography.

and consist of

• Title page: including course name and code, assignment title, due date, word count, student name and ID number.
• Contents page: including table of contents, list of tables, and a list of figures as appropriate. 
• Introduction to the topic
• Main body with suitable subheadings to separate sections and main points. All the headings and subheadings should be numbered, e.g. 1.0, 1.1, 1.1.1.
• Summary/conclusion
• Bibliography/List of References

Form of assignment

The assignments are expected to be submitted electronically.

References

Use an accepted referencing format in the text and the bibliography, such as the Harvard system. http://www.library.uq.edu.au/training/citation/harvard_6.pdf. Be consistent with the format. If you doubt how references are cited and listed, consult the course coordinator and look up journal articles. 

Some referencing issues

• The bibliography must contain all the references cited in the text.
• All references in the bibliography must be referred to in the text.
• Initials of authors must not be used in references cited in the text.
• The term ‘et al.’ stands for ‘et alia’ (‘and others’) and is an abbreviation. It should thus be written as et al. The italics are used because it is a Latin phrase. Examples of use – (Brown et al., 2004) or Brown et al., 2004
• A full stop is NOT used before a reference cited in the text.
• Distinguish between references with the same author(s) and year. This is done by using a, b, c etc., e.g. Brown and Jones, 2004a, Brown and Jones, 2004b
• The names of organisations should be written in full the first time they are used, together with their abbreviation, which can be used subsequently. e.g. “The body who develops and maintains the Food Standards Code is Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). The seafood standard is currently being developed (FSANZ, 2005).” Otherwise, the full name with abbreviation should be cited in the text. In any case, the full name with an abbreviation should be used in the reference list.
• Websites should be referenced in the text like any other source with an author and a year. Do not put the URL in the text. An author can be a person or an organisation. In the bibliography or reference list, as well as the author and year, give the document's name and/or the URL plus the date of access since websites can change. Remember, most websites are not scientifically validated, so information from websites, including Wikipedia, should be used cautiously.
• References should be listed in alphabetical order.
• The way references are cited in the text should match how they are cited in the reference list.

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.

Criteria & Marking:

UQ Students: Please access the profile from Learn.UQ or mySI-net to access marking criteria held in this profile.

The seminar will be assessed by the course coordinator and will cover one topic in food science and technology. An exemplar slide presentation will be provided. Students will need to talk through the basics of the topic and not get too complicated (as it is only a 10 min talk). You should introduce the topic well, and then possibly get into a little more specifics later on in the talk (e.g. refer to some research on the topic and present a graph or figure, for example).  

The presentation time will be 10 minutes + 5 minutes of questions. The presentation will have about 10-12 ppt slides. Include a slide at the end with the reference list on it.

The seminar will be presented via Zoom and recorded.

This assessment task is to be completed via zoom. The use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT) tools will not be permitted. Any attempted use of AI or MT may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

Criteria & Marking:

UQ Students: Please access the profile from Learn.UQ or mySI-net to access marking criteria held in this profile.