Department of Materials Science &
Engineering
Module Description 2013/14
Module Code: MAT206
Module Title: The Physiology of the
Neural and Endocrine Systems
Module Convenor: Professor S MacNeil
Module Links:
Credits: 10
Semester: 1
Pre-requisites: None
Co-requisites: None
Brief Description (including aims of the course):
This lecture course aims to provide a firm foundation in understanding how the body
responds rapidly (through the nervous system) and more slowly (through the
endocrine system) to allow us to respond to changes in ourselves and in our
interactions with our environment. It provides a firm foundation in the physiology
and relevant anatomy of the nervous system and the endocrine system. The course
is delivered through 12 lectures and 9 associated tutorials. Lectures deliver core
knowledge and tutorials are integrated into the course to provide week by week
assessment of the students’ assimilation of the knowledge and to assist students
to work with the material. The tutorials thus give the students rapid feedback on their
learning objectives and their ability to understand the information that they have
been given in the lectures.
Additionally students are assigned an essay worth 10% of the credits which will
require them to do in depth reading on one particular area of the nervous system or
endocrine system. This essay is deliberately chosen to extend the students’ reading
beyond textbooks and to review an area of human health (such as neurodegenerative
diseases or the increased incidence of diabetes) where research is ongoing.
Course Objectives:
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
•Demonstrate a good understanding of how the nervous system and the endocrine
system function;
•Explain how these two systems integrate with other systems in the body;
•Demonstrate in-depth knowledge on human physiology with respect to one
particular current problem of the human nervous system or endocrine system. This
will involve a critical evaluation of the literature in this area.
Assessment:
Exam: 90%
Individual Report:
Visit/Placement Diary:
Essay: 10% (5-6 A4 pages)
Practicals:
Oral Presentation:
Group Project Report:
Problem Sheets:
Poster Presentation:
Lab Report:
Other:
(please state type of assessment)
Booklist (A) Core Test; (B) Secondary Text; (C) Peripheral Reading:
Any recent textbook of human physiology. As an example - Hole’s Human Anatomy and Physiology.
Editors: David Shier, Jackie Butler, Ricki Lewis. WCB McGraw-Hill