Hi I usually don't write subject reviews but I felt that it was important for this one to let others know what they're getting into. // I have to agree with the previous review on the lack of communication and dismissiveness of the staff. None of the emails I sent received replies and questions during workshops were often ignored. When asking for clarification about the content, we were told to just rewatch the lectures or do the reading. One good thing though was that explanation videos about certain workshop content were uploaded to the modules (if you knew where to find them). // In terms of the MST, the highest grade was 84%, with the average in the 60s. The multiple choice were fair but expectations of the case studies were not clearly defined at all and marked incredibly harshly. Although we went through some case studies in workshops, the answers we discussed in class did not seem to be at the high standard that was required for the MST. We went through feedback for some of the MST questions during a later workshop where the coordinator skimmed through a bit of the marking criteria only in the last 15 minutes of the entire 2 hour class. // Practice short answer questions for the exam were provided (3 case studies). We were told we were going to go through these in a workshop but the coordinator decided on the day not to. It was kind of understandable given that majority of students had not yet had the chance to go through it but it was irritating for students who had finished it and wanted a better understanding of what answers were expected especially since feedback on the MST was surface level at best. // The video and essay assignment was marked much more leniently. A substantial amount of time is also given (submission in week 9). Some students had not uploaded the video in the right format so we had around a week to re-upload which was much appreciated. // For the most part I enjoyed the practicals even if they did get repetitive. Ruth was a passionate and knowledgeable demonstrator but you could see her become a bit overwhelmed throughout the semester. It was unfortunate that the classes were only offered at one timeslot despite the enrolment of students (~200 iirc). Many students had to skip classes and no equivalent alternatives were available. // Another good point about this subject was the lectures that were around 20-40 minutes and could easily be understood at 2x. If you're taking MIIM subjects as well the content on microbes will be mostly familiar. // OVERALL this subject was the opposite of a WAM booster and I wish I took something else instead. Although the content was interesting and it was a chance to develop lab skills, you can probably get a better experience doing a different microbiology subject.

Let me give you 5 reasons not to take this sub (and maybe 1 good reason to take it?). fyi it's definitely not a H1 sub 1. Subject coordinator (Helen) - Does not reply to your email - Gave us a practice MST exam on canvas with literally no questions on it. (a lot of students emailed her about it and guess what? she didn't reply to a single person) - Brushes off questions asked during workshop saying it's common sense. (some of it I admit were kind off unnecessary to ask but there were questions that were important that she do not want to address for god knows why) - Said to put up explanation videos at the end of our workshop but never does. like what?? 2. Exams - Oh so you think the subject is H1. The average mark for the MST was 63-65. Highest was like a low 80+. (mind you the MST is worth 25%) - There are MCQ questions but it's only worth a small amount compared to SAQ (both MST and the final exam) - MCQs were fairly straightforward but some SAQs required some applications from lab practical. (This is where online students get screwed over.) - Everyone gets the same prac notes regardless of you being in-person or online. The prac notes ONLY contain steps for the practical activities. If you don't have a friend doing in-person while you're doing online, you basically will not know what's going on in the lab pracs. 3. Content - Lab pracs were also almost rinse and repeat for 12 weeks straight but if you like inoculating bacteria -> culture -> look at your bacteria and guess the morphology then I don't think its a problem. - Pretty sure all the videos are recorded before COVID so it's a bit outdated. (don't really mind this part tho) - Will admit it is a light subject and content were kinda easy to understand. However, exams were marked significantly harsher than what you would expect. - Had a question on the final exam that only consist of 2 calculation, so if you mess it up that's 10 marks down the drain 4. Lecturers + Helen - If you think they know how to use zoom considering we have online classes for a few years already. guess what? wrong - Everyone clearly struggles to use zoom (mostly during screen sharing but that's 70% of the workshop) 5. Practice exam and workshop questions - Did not go through a single question with the student (did you think she would give us sample answers for it? oh well, she didn't too bad i guess you're on your own lol) - No form of feedback for our MST or just in general, which led to us just wondering what went wrong by comparing answers 6. Assignments - The only good part about this subject - Lost .5 marks out of 25 so thats cool i guess idk lol - However, some marks were taken off without justification even tho appeared to meet all critria So final conclusion, If you really don't have another elective to take. Just take this and pray to god all of these doesn't happen to you. Save yourself from going insane. I literally scored higher for a subject that I had 0 confidence in. kthxbye :')

Easy WAMbooster! Low workload, generous marking (I got full mark for all assignment i.e. proposal, essay and video; 90% for MST) and chill stuff. With regard to results, I basically always crammed the exam 2 days before and did start the assignment 3 days before while I was given weeks to finish them. I was able to focus on other subjects and food stilled increased my overall WAM. You typically get 2-3 lectures each week, each is approx. 30-40min long. The speakers pace is extremely so I always watched at 2x speed. Overall, if you like microbiology and want to take a light subject, this will be the one!

Giving this 4 stars since I would say that this subject is a wam booster. The content and the exam was very straight forward, as long as you attend the lectures and the weekly zoom, I'd say H1 is very possible. The assignments are also relatively easy and it's definitely not hard for you to score in. However, the downside of this subject is that there are only two teaching staffs that definitely are overwhelmed. You can clearly see this since it takes a long time to get the marks for assignments and MST. Unlike other reviews, I have my emails always answered by Helen (the subject coor) - so I'm not sure what is happening here. It is also quite disorganised since we were promised to be given a practice exam, but ended up with nothing. Materials for exams are also released not as early as other subjects. However, if you're only looking for a warm booster, I'd certainly recommend. I'm not a microbiology person either, but ended up with the highest score I ever had in Unimelb.

The content itself is okay if you are interested in microorganisms and their impacts on food safety. One thing I found quite "uncomfortable" is that there are only two teaching staffs in the subject and the coordinator doesn't reply to emails with questions related to the teaching materials and the only way where you can get reply from the coordinator is during the weekly zoom sessions. Also, the feedbacks of the assignments were given at the pretty late stage (the markings for the MST held in week 5 were released in week 10). Lastly, there's no practice question given for the final exam.

Other reviews made this subject sound amazing and really fun but that wasn't really the case for me... All the assessments were so vague and you never really know what exactly they are looking for. There were so many things to memorise and the lectures were pretty boring (although the lecturers themselves are very nice people). Some exam questions were worth 10-20 marks so you honestly had to just write everything you remember since the questions were so broad. They're not harsh markers so ended up getting a good mark but overall, I did not enjoy this subject very much.

Definitely my favorite subject so far in my course. The head lecturer is extremely helpful and friendly with any questions and the assignments are easy to score for if you follow accordingly with the guidelines. The exam was relatively easy if you memorize well, and the practicals were interesting and the demonstrators provided a lot of help too! Highly recommend this subject to anyone that is interested :)

This is a Fascinating and Easy subject, much easier than the other core Food subject in 1st semester Have to learn quite a bit of different microbes, but still better than other level 2 subjects