BIOM30001 - Frontiers in Biomedicine

The Debate 2015

This exercise comprises 5% of the total marks for this subject. Your mark will be determined
by your tutor and will be a shared mark for your team.
Follow the instructions carefully. It is very important you attend this weeks preparation
tutorial and next weeks debate.
Skills/Attributes:
On completion of this exercise, you should have gained:

experience in the use of group work to facilitate research and collation of information;
an appreciation of, and familiarity with, concepts influencing public health policies including ethics;
the ability to identify an issue and address it from two opposing perspectives
more ability to communicate scientific knowledge orally in an intelligible manner.

Some of the graduate attributes developed in this exercise will include:

Academic excellence:

reach a high level of achievement in writing, generic research activities, problemsolving and communication

be critical and creative thinkers, with an aptitude for continued self-directed learning

Knowledge across disciplines:

examine critically, synthesise and evaluate knowledge across a broad range of

disciplines

have the capacity to participate fully in collaborative learning and to confront

unfamiliar problems

Leaders in communities:

engage in meaningful public discourse, with a profound awareness of community

needs

Active global citizens:

be advocates for improving the sustainability of the environment have a broad global
understanding, with a high regard for human rights, equity and ethics

Adapted from: The Melbourne Model Report of the Curriculum Commission, 2006, p.27.

For context, read this first:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673615605785
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2815%2960175-1/abstract
http://www.ubble.co.uk/
The motion for the debate is that

Australia should build a similar biobank cohort to that of the UK Biobank.

For this debate you are asked to prepare arguments for and against the motion.
Preparation (August 19/20): You should consider both sides of the argument, as your team will
be allocated to advocate either for or against on the day of the tutorial. You should get together
with your team/group this week in your usual tutorial room (which is available to you for use
during your scheduled tutorial time). Teams will comprise students with odd student numbers; or
even student numbers. Divide the research workload across the issues and ascertain who will be
your speakers on the day. If the odds/evens divide is too uneven, you should organize yourselves
to approximately equal numbers on each side.
You can prepare your arguments for and against in your teams, or as a whole class. You may find
the discussion board helpful to share questions and resources.
An academic will be present for a short period during your preparation tutorial to provide
guidance and answer queries.
On the day of the debate (August 26/27): During the first 15 minutes of the tutorial you will
have an opportunity to further organize your case (once you know which side youre on). A
minimum of 3 speakers from each team will speak for a total of 10 minutes. If more people from
you team wish to speak this is desirable, but ensure that the total time of 10 min is not exceeded.
We encourage all students to speak.
Assessment: Will be based mainly on participation (80%) and to a lesser extent on quality of
argument and articulation (20%). Team members will rate all other team members for effort using
a fraction where 1.0 is a satisfactory effort. Each students mark will be the product of their teams
mark and the average fraction effort. I would expect in most cases that the fractional effort would
be 1.0. This should not be unduly weighted to the speakers, as there will be research to do in
preparation. If you elect not to speak, then you should expect to do more of the research to
support your teams arguments.