1. Main aim of tutorials is to stimulate you into thinking about the topics presented in the course. In particular, attention will be given to students' questions about aspects which may be presenting difficulty - or may be of special interest. Just presenting materials in a different way, or looking at phenomena from a different point of view is intended to help you understand the concepts involved.
2. Information to students - papers used in tutorial will be distributed as part of email-based support or sent out along with "Student Notes" which are returned with each TMA after marking. Part of this is contact information about other students - you may wish to form self-help groups. Check out the list of Student contacts .
3. Much discussion about "How to study BBB". Probably as many different effective ways as there are students. Remember the (corny but true) saying: "I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand". Emphasis should be on understanding the course material - so anything which encourages you to "do" things with the material is encouraged. Many find it useful to write SHORT notes to summarise chapters from the Books. Could be useful later on as a guide to revision - but main thing is to just work with the material.
4. The course is NOT an incremental process - you don't have to be 100% on top of one Book before you move on to the next!. You'll have plenty of opportunity to re-visit early Books as you progress through the later ones and this will stimulate revision and you'll suddenly find that you understand it, especially after Summer School. Be patient and have confidence. Books 1 and 2 provide the basis for later topics and this is mapped out in a diagram.
5. Make sure you do all the TMAs - and try to get them in on time! Also make sure that your essays always have a beginning (Introduction), a middle (logical development of arguments with evidence/examples) and an end (Conclusion). I like to see headings for the different parts/sections of an essay - as an aid to "navigation". It's good also to quote references and list them in a bibliography at the end of the essay. Feel free to include diagrams and tables in your scientific essays. Have a look at the advice given in the Assignment Booklet. My main advice would be to write a good, clear essay that you would find useful when it comes to revision-time later on.
6. It's also a good idea to do all the CMAs - they're another way of "do"ing the material; they're NOT assessed (apart from the last one) and so you've got nothing to lose by sending them in for some feedback. Part I of the exam is like a CMA - so the more practice the better!
7. Among more particular topics which "emerged"
in discussions were:-
a) Levels of organisation in biological science (especially cells,
tissues, organs and organ systems; see list).
The evolution of multicellularity in animals made possible the
specialisation of cells for particular functions as one of the
advantages of being multicellular. Multicellular body requires
a circulatory system which, among other things, can be used for
the passage of hormones to integrate various functions. Coordination
is also effected by the rapid, targetted transmission of information
by nerve cells (which could evolve for their specialised function
because they're part of a multicellular body).
b) The various adaptations (anatomical and physiological) need
to be integrated with each other; example considered was that
of excretion of nitrogenous waste and regulation/conservation
of body water.
c) It is IMPORTANT to be very precise in your use of language
- especially when using jargon terms with specific meaning. Example:-
adaptation, selection and fitness (Ch.4 of Bk.1); amongst other
things we discussed kin selection.
d) Our phenotype (contrast with genotype) and behaviour depends
upon the interaction between genetic inheritance and environmental
(including developmental) influences - which can be extended to
include "cultural inheritance". Reference was made to
Teilhard de Chardin's 'noosphere', the realm of thought within
which current human evolution may be considered to be taking place
- as the top of a trioof layers on the planet: inorganic (lithosphere),
living (biosphere) and thinking (noosphere).
e) Worth revising basics of genetic inheritance - genes as 'real'
molecules (or parts thereof) and alleles as the alternative expressions
of characters coded by the genes (Ch.3 of Bk.1).
f) An important aspect of biology is the inter-relationship between
structure and function.
g) A simple view of biological functioning (especially at cellular
level) can be considered in 3 "dimensions": materials,
energy and information.
8. As a contribution to the recommendation to "do"
things with the course material, sheets of questions (and, separately,
of answers) relating to Book 1 were made available:
Questions re. early chapters of Book 1
Questions re. later chapters of Book 1
.
9. Concept maps were found useful by some students - in other words, basically puuting your thoughts down on paper in a vaguely-organised set of "doodles" so that you can see what facts and concepts you're dealing with. Could be a useful first stage before putting together a plan for your essay.
10. The challenge of BBB (and the fascination) is to use biological data and concepts to explain (and thus predict?) human behaviour (psychology). The convergence of holistic and reductionist approaches.
Good luck!