Hey everyone,
So there I am in the final lecture of microbiology (of the degree!) and Cutler and Wilkinson are talking about exam format and essays etc etc and they mention that in order to get an A in your essay, you need to display "originality".
For the past years of my studying here, I thought it was impossible to show "originality" in essays. For goodness sake we're doing science degrees not English or something. Impossible to be original about cholesterol or MRSA, because ALL the ideas had been taken.
So Stacey asks: "What's originality?"
To which Dr Wilkinson replies: "Outside reading."
He went on to explain that you have to display knowledge you learnt outside the course. Things lecturers who are marking your essays didn't teach you about. This is not to say, as Dr Cutler said, that you have to cite about 15 references in your essay in the exam (just a few names with a year is fine - no journal names or article names or volume numbers etc etc etc)
So there you have it: ORIGINALITY = OUTSIDE READING
You can use the extra information to draw new conclusions or suggest new ideas or new concepts etc etc etc and that's the basis of "originality"!
Just wanted to share this golden piece of information with you guys. Make sure you tell everyone! (No snakey behaviour *shrewd glare*)
Hope you all have a good holiday and happy new year!
Leyla :D
