Course:FNH313

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Welcome to FNH 313 Food Microbiology!

Course Instructor

Hello! My name is Patricia Hingston and I am an Associate Professor of Teaching in Food Science at UBC and will be your instructor for this course. In addition to teaching this course, I also teach two third year food science laboratory courses (FNH 325 and 326) and FNH 425 which is a 6-credit food industry research project course. Originally from Owen Sound, Ontario, I obtained a B.A.Sc. and M.Sc. in Food Science and Technology from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and a Ph.D. in Food Microbiology from UBC. Throughout my degrees I discovered a passion for teaching and mentoring students which lead to my current position. As an Associate Professor of Teaching, instead of conducting research in a traditional laboratory, I investigate new and innovative ways to improve student learning and prepare students for their future careers. Accordingly, I hope that you will find the learning experiences in this course fun and meaningful as they are designed to engage you in the course material while helping you learn the course content. I am a very friendly and approachable person so please feel welcome to connect with me regarding the course or any other matters. In my free time you can find me mostly hanging out with my husband and two sons (ages 1 and 5) but I also enjoy travelling, anything artsy (painting, pottery), biking, yoga, and wine tasting!

I look forward to meeting you!

If you are interested, clicker here to see a fun video that I made a couple years back to promote Food Science to first-year students.

Course Objectives

In order to produce high quality foods, it is important to understand the role of microorganisms in food production, preservation, spoilage, and foodborne disease. This course will build upon basic information developed in BIOL 112 and will focus on the growth and survival of microorganisms in different food commodities and environments. We will examine how extrinsic environmental factors and intrinsic parameters within foods influence the growth, survival, and inactivation of microorganisms and what can be done to reduce food spoilage and foodborne disease. More specifically, this course will cover the following:

Importance of microorganisms in relation to the safety, spoilage, flavour, and preservation of foods
Where and how microorganisms contaminate foods
Factors affecting growth and survival of microorganisms in foods and food processing environments
Methods for controlling microorganisms in foods and food processing environments
Methods for detecting and enumerating foodborne microorganisms
Steps involved in solving a foodborne outbreak
Cleaning and sanitation of food processing plants

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, learners who have effectively engaged with the course material will be able to:

List types of foodborne microorganisms and explain common contamination routes
Describe the roles of microorganisms in food production, sensory properties, food safety and food quality
Describe intrinsic and extrinsic factors impacting the growth and survival of microorganisms in food
Distinguish whether a microorganism will grow, survive or die given a set of conditions and the microbe’s characteristics
Select laboratory techniques to identify and quantify microorganisms in food
Explain pathogenic microorganism disease-causing mechanisms
Identify foodborne pathogens of most concern in certain foods
List and describe the steps involved in a food safety outbreak investigation
Describe food plant cleaning and sanitation procedures and select appropriate methods and chemicals for specific needs
Apply critical thinking skills to solve microbial food safety and quality problems

Course Format

This course takes place Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 12 - 1 pm. Students have the option of participating in-person or remotely via Zoom. If you are on campus, I strongly encourage you to attend class in-person as it may be more engaging for you than following along on Zoom. However, if for example, this is your only class on Fridays then it may be nice to save the commute to campus and participate remotely. If you need to miss a class, recordings will be made available on Canvas.

iClicker will be used during lectures to engage students and to also determine if students are understanding concepts correctly. There is a 10% participation grade in this course and you must complete at least 80% of iClicker questions to obtain the full 10%. Whether you get a question right or wrong is not assessed, only whether you participated. The 20% buffer is intended for times when you may need to miss class. Students may not ask to be excused from participating during certain classes unless it is for a prolonged period of time due to a very unforeseen circumstance.

There is additionally the option of opting out of the course participation grade and transferring the 10% to your final exam weight.

This course uses multiple small assessments instead of fewer larger assessments to assess student learning. This helps students stay on top of the course material and prevents one poor grade from having a large impact on your overall grade. Each week in this course you will have a short quiz or a discussion post due but there will be no midterm or large assignment. It is possible that a quiz and discussion post may be due in the same week since assignment due dates will vary based on the speed at which we cover course topics. Approximate assignment due dates are shown below in the course schedule. However, all assignments are available from the start of the course so you can read through and work on them as early as you like.

On Canvas, the class will be divided into groups of ~15 students. Throughout the course you will complete discussion posts and your posts will be shared to your group discussion board for all group members to see and comment.

Course Communication

The discussion platform Piazza is used in this course to allow students to ask and answer questions related to the course, anonymously. The top 10 students who answer the most student questions will receive a 1% bonus mark in the course. The instructor will monitor Piazza closely and endorse student answers that are correct, correct incorrect answers, and answer any questions that have not been addressed. Students are encouraged to post to Piazza any questions regarding assignment clarification. However, I kindly request that you refrain from sharing specific assignment or quiz questions, as well as their corresponding answers, on the platform. If any such posts are made, I will be compelled to remove the question or take necessary action to maintain the fairness and integrity of the assessments. Your cooperation in adhering to this guideline is greatly appreciated as it ensures a level playing field for all students. Let's foster a supportive and respectful learning environment on Piazza.

If you wish to contact myself (the instructor) or a TA, please message us through Canvas to prevent your message from getting lost in our inboxes.

Course Schedule

Below is the tentative schedule for the course including lecture topics and course activities. Please note that this schedule is subject to change depending on the pace at which we cover the course content.

Course Schedule
Week	Lesson	Topic	Course Activities
1	1	Types of microorganisms in food
2	1	Types of microorganisms in food (continued)	Syllabus quiz
3	2	Sources of microorganisms in food	Class Introduction Quiz 1
4	2	Sources of microorganisms in food (continued)	Food Forensics
5	3	Intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting microbial growth and survival	Quiz 2
6	3	Intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting microbial growth and survival (continued)	Storage Investigation
7	4	Detection and enumeration of microorganisms in food	Quiz 3
8	5	Food poisoning: bacteria	Microbial Detectives
9	5	Food poisoning: viruses and moulds
10	5	Food poisoning: parasites and prions	Quiz 4
11	6	Food plant cleaning and sanitation	Fermentation Nation
12	7	Food spoilage	Quiz 5 Probiotic Pursuit
13	8	Beneficial microorganisms in food: fermentations and probiotics	Spoiler Alert Microbial Mindshift

Course Learning Activities

Syllabus quiz

At the beginning of the term you will be asked to complete a syllabus quiz. This quiz serves as a means for me to assist you in understanding all the essential aspects of the course. You will have the flexibility of unlimited time and attempts to achieve a perfect score of 100% on the syllabus quiz. This approach guarantees that you are well-informed about the course expectations and sets a solid foundation for your academic journey.

Course introduction

Students will be divided into groups of ~15 and each group will have a designated discussion board. Your first task will be to post an introduction of yourself to the discussion board for others to get to know you better.

Content quizzes

Throughout the duration of the course, students will encounter five online quizzes that are evenly spaced and intended to evaluate their comprehension of the class material. These quizzes serve the dual purpose of reinforcing learning and providing students with a means to monitor their progress as the course unfolds. Each quiz will consist of 15 questions, and students will have the opportunity to attempt them unlimited times, with each attempt allowing up to 30 minutes. The highest grade attained among the attempts will be considered in calculating the student's final grade. Additionally, your lowest quiz grade will be dropped at the end of the course.

Discussion posts

In this course, students will complete a series of seven discussion post assignments. When contributing your responses on the group discussion board, you will not have access to other students' contributions until you have submitted your own post. This deliberate design encourages students to express their own thoughts and perspectives without being influenced or swayed by the ideas of others.

Once you have submitted a discussion post, you will be unable to edit it. Below are the different discussion post topics.

🍽️ Food Forensics Investigate the microbial load and contamination routes of a meal.

🥫 Storage Investigation Explain why foods have different storage requirements based on intrinsic and extrinsic factors.

🕵️ Microbial Detectives Investigate a food safety question using scientific evidence to determine what the research really says.

🚨 Spoiler Alert Create an infographic about a food spoilage microorganism.

🌍 Fermentation Nation Create an infographic about a fermented food.

🛒 Probiotic Pursuit Hunt for and analyze a probiotic food product.

🧠 Microbial Mindshift Reflect on how your understanding of food microbiology has changed.

Participation

In this course, iClicker is used during lectures to actively engage students and assess their understanding of concepts. Participation through iClicker responses contributes to a 10% grade in the course, and to earn the full 10%, you must complete at least 80% of the iClicker questions. All responses are anonymous but iClicker will note whether you participated or not. The assessment is based on participation rather than the accuracy of your answers. To accommodate potential absences, a 20% buffer has been incorporated, allowing for the equivalent of missing 2.5 classes without any penalty to your grade. Each class will commence with a fun icebreaker question so make sure to show up on time!

Below is how your 10% participation grade will be evaluated:

% of Questions Answered	% Grade
80 - 100	10
70 – 79	8
60 – 69	6
50 – 59	5
40 – 49	4
30 – 39	3
20 – 29	2
0 – 19	0

Study guides

Study guides are available on Canvas for each lesson in the course. Each guide consists of an empty table(s) as well as a list of study questions that students are encouraged to fill in/answer during and/or after class. Both the charts and the questions are intended to help you prepare for the quizzes and the final exam.

Final exam

During the designated exam period, a 2.5-hour in-person final exam will be administered. This closed-book examination aims to assess your understanding of the course material and your ability to apply critical thinking skills in accordance with the stated course learning objectives. The exam will be completed as a Canvas quiz and the Respondus Lockdown Browser will be required for secure exam completion. The exam room will be equipped with electrical outlets at each seat, enabling you to connect and power your computer if necessary.

Microbial Enumeration Workshop (optional)

Due to the large number of students who require this course for their degree, it is not feasible to conduct a laboratory session for the whole class. However, UBC's Food Science Club will be holding one or two Microbial Enumeration Workshops in the fall that can accommodate ~ 25 students each. The event(s) will take place in the evening from 5 - 7:30 pm in the FNH Teaching Lab in the MacMillan Building and the price will be $20 per student to help cover the costs of the supplies needed. Students will work in groups of two to perform the following tasks:

Enumerate total aerobic microorganisms in a food product via spread plating (can bring your own product or use one that is provided)
Conduct a Gram stain on the food product and observe it under a light microscope to see if Gram-positive and/or Gram-negative bacteria are present
Determine the water activity of your assigned food product
Determine the pH of 3 different foods and beverages
Evaluate the microbial load on a surface by swabbing it (e.g. cell phone, toilet seat, door handle) and streaking the swab out onto an agar plate

Assignment Deadlines

All discussion posts for this course will be accessible from the beginning of the term. However, their due dates will be set for one week after we have completed the relevant content in class. The instructor will provide guidance during class sessions, indicating when you possess sufficient knowledge to commence working on the assignments and discussion posts.

Due to the size of this class and the grading process, extensions will not be granted. However, students can submit assignments late with a 5%-mark deduction applied for each 24 hours late. Ensuring that all assignments are submitted around the same time simplifies the grading process for the teaching assistants (TAs). Therefore, it is important to adhere to the specified deadlines on Canvas and submit your assignments accordingly.

Course Evaluation

This course uses a flexible assessment model, allowing you to personalize the weighting of selected course activities to better reflect your strengths and learning preferences. For each activity with a range of available weights (see table below), you may choose a weighting within the specified range. Your selected weights must total 100% for your overall course grade. If you do not submit your preferred assessment weighting by September 25, the default (suggested) weighting shown in the table will automatically be applied and cannot be changed afterward. Once submitted (or once the deadline has passed), your assessment weighting will remain in effect for the remainder of the course.

Course Activity	Amount	Suggested Weight (%)	Range Available
Syllabus quiz	1	1	1
Class introduction	1	2	2
Content quizzes	5	25	25 - 30
Food forensics	1	5	3 - 5
The storage investigation	1	5	3 - 6
Microbial detectives	1	10	8 - 12
Fermentation nation	1	6	3 - 8
Spoiler alert!	1	6	3 - 8
Probiotic pursuit	1	3	0 - 3
Microbial mindshift	1	2
Participation	Throughout course	10	0 OR 10
Final exam	1	25	20 - 48

Bonus Mark: You can obtain a 1% bonus mark added to your final grade by being one of the top 10 students who responded to the most student-asked questions on Piazza.

Course Resources

There is no assigned textbook for this course, but supplemental information on most of the topics covered in this course can be found in Food Microbiology – An Introduction (4th Edition), which is available online through the UBC library. This and similar textbooks are a great resource for gaining a deeper understanding of the course material and students are encouraged to engage in supplemental reading as part of their study habits for the course. Other supplemental resources are also available on Canvas under “Helpful Resources”.

Course Technologies

A number of different web-based technologies are used in this course to support student learning. They are as follows:

iClicker - used for conducting engaging in-class activities and monitoring student participation
Zoom - for those who would like to attend class virtually (optional)
Canvas - homebase for the course
Google Docs - format used for lesson study guides
Respondus Lockdown Browser - used for final exam only
Combase predictive modelling software - used for assignment 3