Molecular Systems Biology is a fairly poor unit which suffers from problems such as sub-standard teaching, a disjointed curriculum, and poor communication between the unit coordinators and students. The unit focuses on introducing concepts in Molecular Systems Biology, a field of biology which is about shifting the focus from individual biological molecules to whole systems (e.g. signalling networks, gene regulatory networks). The first module is about modelling biological systems with differential equations which was a unique module in combining the fields of mathematics and biology. Unfortunately, I felt as though the module promoted surface learning and never really allowed me to independently use the knowledge in any sort of practical application. From then on, the unit took an unpredictable path jumping in and out of topics such as experimental design, proteomics, statistics, genomics, and the applications of big data in various medical contexts. The lack of cohesiveness in this particular section of the course really left me stumped about what I was actually supposed to be getting out of the unit, and this feeling was made worse by the lack of a unit outline and the lack of learning outcomes. This again led me to feel like the unit promoted surface learning. I felt as though the unit exposed me to some new concepts but didn’t teach me anything in enough depth to allow me to apply my new knowledge. The practical program was ok and definitely better than the lectures. The practical program consisted of weekly computer practicals where you spend the first few practicals modelling various biological systems using Simbiology and the rest of the semester using R to analyse proteomics and gene expression data. At times, the practical program was too easy or too difficult and this was the main flaw of the practicals.

Anonymous, Semester 1, 2019