Objectives of Programme's Learning Outcomes

• Acquire, understand and use knowledge in the fields of biology and other fields
• Understand and use mathematical tools and basic statistics to describe and understand biological concepts
• Demonstrate an understanding of the general principles of life to understand questions and solve situations related to biology
• Integrate knowledge from other fields of knowledge with biology (earth science, physics, chemistry, mathematics), in a critical way, to foster an interdisciplinary approach
• Synthesise and summarise, in a critical way, information from scientific literature in different forms (textual, numerical, verbal and graphic)
• Solve issues relevant to biology
• Make accurate observations in the context of activities in the field and in the laboratory
• Analyse and interpret, in an appropriate way, biological data collected in natura, through dissection or based on an experimental protocol in the laboratory
• Apply a scientific approach and critical thinking
• Understand and apply the basic principles of reasoning (obtaining data, analysis, synthesis, comparison, rule of three, syllogism, analogy, etc.)
• Understand the statistical and/or probabilistic methods
• Work with efficiency / accuracy / precision
• Present a hypothesis and hypothetical-deductive reasoning
• Develop critical thinking, test and monitor conclusions understanding the domain of validity, and explore alternative hypotheses
• Manage doubt and uncertainty
• Communicate effectively and appropriately in French and English
• Understand and summarise articles, websites and other scientific works in French and English
• Communicate in French, orally and in writing, the results of experiments and observations by constructing and using graphs and tables
• Develop autonomy, set training objectives and make choices to achieve them
• Organise time and work, individually and in groups
• Prioritise
• Manage stress regardless of events (exams, presentations, etc.)

Learning Outcomes of UE

- Describe the respective contributions of Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace to the emergence of the theory of evolution
- Explain and apply the Hardy-Weinberg model
- Explain and demonstrate that mutations are random in relation to their potential usefulness.
- Comparing artificial and natural selection
- For a gene represented by 2 alleles in a population, in a selection against the recessive homozygous, in favor of the recessive homozygous, against the heterozygous or in favor of the heterozygous: (1) calculating an absolute fitness, a relative fitness and a selection coefficient; (2) calculating the variation of the allelic frequencies in one generation; (3) estimating the allelic frequencies at equilibrium
- Describe and explain the mechanisms of microevolution (mutation, selection, consanguinity, migration, gene drift)
- Describe a simple model to simulate the evolution of allelic frequencies in a finite population (evolution by gene drift); justify the relevance of this model.
- Define, calculate and interpret the linkage disequilibrium between two loci, and predict its evolution over time, based on observed allelic and genotypic frequencies.
- Predict, including in a defined concrete case, the influence of each microevolution mechanism explored in the course, separately or in concert, on the evolution of allelic and genotypic frequencies by means of the Allele A1 software.
- Specify under what conditions a state of character can be considered as an adaptation and how it can be recognized
- Comparing the advantages and disadvantages of sexual and asexual reproduction
- Explain what sexual selection is, where it comes from, and the forms it takes in females and males.
- Define and recognize an adaptive trade-off
- Calculate an individual's ability over several breeding seasons and use this calculation to compare breeding strategies.
- Explain the concept of indirect selection
- Calculate direct and indirect fitness (including in haplo-diploid species) and predict optimal breeding strategies under environmental conditions.
- Reading and interpreting a phylogenetic tree
- Describe the theory of neutral molecular evolution, including the molecular clock hypothesis, and the arguments in favour of it.
- Describe the mechanisms that cause the evolution of genome size.
- Define and compare different species concepts. In a defined context, delimit a species according to the biological and phylogenetic concepts.
- Describe the mechanisms that can lead to the formation of new species.
- Differentiate between pre- and post-zygotic reproductive isolation. Explain the effect of natural selection on these two types of reproductive isolation, and their consequence on the process of speciation.
- Define epigenetics and clarify its current place in the theory of evolution.
- Describe and discuss the contribution of paleontological and genetic data in reconstructing the evolutionary history of the human lineage.
- Show that man is an animal and a monkey...
- Define, distinguish and identify the following scientific concepts: fact, theory, hypothesis, model, belief.
- Arguing the non-scientific nature of creationism
- Explain the evolution of the living without anthropomorphism and without finalism
 

UE Content: description and pedagogical relevance

- Darwin, Wallace and natural selection: historical and epistemological approach to the birth of a scientific theory
- Population evolution : mechanisms and modelling
- Adaptation
- Species concepts, speciation and phylogeny
- Neutral evolution and genealogy
- Evolution of genomes
- Epigenetics
- Evolution of the human lineage
- Conclusions
 

Prior Experience

Not applicable