JOURNAL CLUB - 2020/1

Module Overview

During this module students will receive interactive instruction on how to prepare an outstanding journal club presentation. Students’ skills are then reinforced and refined by presenting and participating at a journal club attended by academics, PhD students and post-doctoral scientists.

Module provider

School of Biosciences and Medicine

Module Leader

BESTE Dany (Biosc & Med)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

N/A

Module content

Indicative content includes:

Week1:

Seminar 1: How to prepare an outstanding journal club presentation

Seminar 2: How to prepare short and pithy journal club critique

Journal club 1: Academics present a journal and lead the discussion

Tutorial 1: One to one discussion of article selection for Micro journal club presentations

Week 2:

Tutorial 2: One to one practice of micro journal club presentation

Journal club 2: Micro Journal club presentations

Week 3

Tutorial 3 & 4:  One to one discussions on the selection of an article 

Seminar 3: Group discussion on journal selections

Week 4

Tutorial 5 & 6: One to one discussion about journal club presentation and critique

Journal club 3: Students lead the discussion of an article 

Weeks 5 - 10

Tutorial 7 & 8: One to one discussion about journal club presentation

Journal club 4: Students lead the discussion of an article 

Week 11

Seminar 4: Reflection on journal club

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

we will arrange another opportunity to present at a journal club wherever possible or have a one to one presentation.

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate :

• That they can discuss recent advances and developments in the field of microbiology


• Accurately summarise research literature


• Evaluate the quality of information and the validity of conclusions presented in scientific papers.


• Excellent communication skills in group discussions


• The ability to critically appraise scientific literature and then present this in a concise and engaging fashion

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• A journal club presentation and participation. Students will have to prepare and present a journal club presentation (50%)


• Journal club hand-out (10%)


• Self-reflection and article critique summary (40%)

Formative assessment and feedback

Formative assessment is integral to this module as the students have to participate in several journal clubs as well as present their own mini journal club.

Students will get instant feedback during the journal club meetings as well as getting individual feedback from their University tutor and the module organisor.

Module aims

• Develop the students ability to analyse the quality and validity of research journal articles
• Develop confidence and aptitude in appraising primary literature
• Develop competence in summarising primary literature
• Enhance journal club presentation skills

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

Give students training and experience of preparing and presenting at journal clubs. The skills gained on this module are directly transferable to all other modules on the programme, and to the wider science profession.

The learning and teaching methods include:

• Seminars, workshops and one to one tutorials


• Journal club meetings

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: MMIM029

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2020/1 academic year.