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FDSC40520

Academic Year 2024/2025

Food Microbiology & Safety (FDSC40520)

Subject:
Food Science
College:
Health & Agricultural Sciences
School:
Agriculture & Food Science
Level:
4 (Masters)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Assoc Professor Amalia Scannell
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
Online
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This module is for students taking the Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma or MSc in Food, Nutrition, and Health.

The course will address four key questions intrinsic to applied aspects of food microbiology:
• What microbes are important in food spoilage and foodborne disease?
• How are these microbes identified, differentiated, and enumerated?
• What are the important factors determining microbial growth in food?
• How can these factors be manipulated to ensure food quality and safety?

The module will be delivered through the UCD VLE system and will consist of:
• Online lecture material and recommended reading lists
• Audio demonstrations by the lecturers
• Asynchronous discussion threads

Students are not required to attend lectures at the UCD campus as part of the course. Students are expected to spend a total of 110 hours workload during the trimester consisting of:
• Lectures uploads during the trimester:
• Discussion threads
• Autonomous learning
• Project research and writing

Assessment will include continuous assessment: 2 group / individual research projects depending on student preference.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this course the student should be able to:

• Propose methods to enumerate and differentiate different classes of Bacteria.
• Identify and describe the main pathogens and spoilage microorganisms associated with specific food types.
• Describe the basic principles of food spoilage and preservation.
• Devise preservation/fermentation protocols using intrinsic and extrinsic food-related factors.
• Successfully resource and critically review reliable published literature, and integrate key concepts appropriately in written assignments.
• Work in a team in an online environment.

Indicative Module Content:

The course will address four key questions intrinsic to applied aspects of food microbiology:

• What microbes are important in food spoilage and foodborne disease?
• How are these microbes identified, differentiated, and enumerated?
• What are the important factors determining microbial growth in food?
• How can these factors be manipulated to ensure food quality and safety?

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Autonomous Student Learning

75

Lectures

25

Online Learning

10

Total

110


Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This module will be delivered online. Lecture material and supporting text as well as required reading will be provided to the students. An online discussion board, monitored by a tutor will be used to capture and address student queries on module content and assessment criteria. A set of 'just-in-time' online classes/ discussions will be mediated by tutors and/or Module Coordinators to support student learning. Assessment will focus on developing resource curation, concept map development, critical thinking, and communication through Scientific Writing. Assessment will include elements of negotiated learning and peer-peer learning. Assessment Rubrics will be provided in advance of assignments to feed forward into the learning process and alert students to assessment expectations. Students will also self-review their work prior to submission using these rubrics to demonstrate an understanding of the learning requirements for each assignment and to analyse the quality of their work in an objective way.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Recommendations:

While there are no learning Pre-requisites in this module, because it is a MSc. module it will be expected that graduate students can write effectively. It might be useful to read through some basic microbiology text as the course does, by its nature contain a considerable level of technical information, which may prove challenging for a beginner, particularly in where English is not a first language.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Assignment(Including Essay): This assignment can be undertaken as a group or as an individual. the key skills to demonstrate are resource management, development of an evidence-based review addressing a question selected in class Week 11 Graded Yes
50
Yes
Reflective Assignment: This Reflective journal will act as a weekly upload to A. demonstrate ongoing work on your assignments. You will also use this to B. upload your Ruvbric reviews and C. assess the module delivery Week 12 Graded No
20
No
Group Work Assignment: This assignment allows students to demonstrate course knowledge while also developing key group work skills Week 6 Graded Yes
30
Yes

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Peer review activities
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

The assessment of this module will take place in two assignments. Assignment 1: Students will be required to prepare a project mindmap, review other mindmaps ( for peer-to-peer learning) and write a short paper. Guidelines for the preparation of the mindmap and an assessment rubric will be given prior to the commencement of the assessment. By following the guidelines and consulting the rubric students should be able to self assess their performance. Post-assessment feedback will be qualitative (poor-excellent) with suggestions of areas in the rubric that require attention for the next assignment. Assignment 2: This is a group project which will require individuals to apply assignment 1 feedback in a group context. The class will be divided into online groups so that will work collaboratively to produce a group mindmap & essay. As before guidelines and Assessment Rubric will be provided in advance, and feedback will be qualitative with comments indicating areas for improvement. Students will be required to submit a self and peer assessment form to ascribe the contribution of the team to the assessment outputs. Students may make an appointment to discuss assessment grades at a time convenient to both Module Co-ordinator and the student.

The following books are listed as required reading. Thy are available as e-books via UCD library website; www.ucd.ie/library
Fundamental Food Microbiology (2nd Edition, Bibek Ray)
Food Microbiology (Martin R. Adams & Maurice O. Moss)
Food Microbiology: An introduction (Thomas J. Montville & Karl R. Matthews)
Food Microbiology: Fundamentals and Frontiers (3rd Edition, Edited by Michael P. Doyle and Larry R. Beuchat)
Handbook of Food Safety Engineering (Edited by Da-Wen Sun).
In addition, the Bad Bug Book will be an important resource (http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodborneIllnessContaminants/CausesOfIllnessBadBugBook/)

You may be directed to other section-specific material as the module progresses.

Name Role
Matthew Marmion Tutor