Formative assessment

Each student will be expected to submit at least one critical appraisal essay in Term I. Once marked, the essays will be returned by way of providing feedback to the students. The objective of this exercise is to emphasise the importance of critical interpretation and clear scientific writing.

The preparation of a grant proposal forms part of the formative assessment component of Term 2. Students will team up into ‘research groups’ each group will tackle one of the proposed titles. Each team will be composed by ‘collaborators’ of the project proposal. The suggested format is the format required by the Wellcome Trust for Project grants of three year duration.

Some suggested titles are:

• “The potential impact of the Global Programme for Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis on the transmission of Malaria in co-endemic areas”
• “The potential impact of strategies to control Herpes Simplex Virus type 2 (HSV-2) on the transmission of HIV”
• “The potential impact of mobile phone use in young people”

You can propose your own titles.

Formative essays and projects will not be assessed formally (i.e., they do not contribute to the final mark in a summative way), yet their submission and the attainment of 50% or more in all summative components of the course assessment is a prerequisite for the award of MSc.