Course Title: Human Sensory Evaluation

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Human Sensory Evaluation

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
ONPS2189	City Campus	Undergraduate	135H Applied Sciences	Face-to-Face	Sem 2 2006, Sem 1 2007, Sem 1 2008, Sem 1 2009, Sem 1 2010, Sem 2 2011, Sem 1 2012, Sem 1 2013, Sem 1 2014, Sem 1 2015
ONPS2331	City Campus	Postgraduate	135H Applied Sciences	Face-to-Face	Sem 2 2006, Sem 1 2007, Sem 1 2008, Sem 1 2009, Sem 1 2010, Sem 2 2011, Sem 1 2015
ONPS2520	Bundoora Campus	Undergraduate	135H Applied Sciences	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2016
ONPS2520	Bundoora Campus	Undergraduate	171H School of Science	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2017, Sem 2 2017, Sem 2 2019, Sem 2 2020, Sem 2 2021, Sem 2 2022, Sem 2 2023
ONPS2526	Bundoora Campus	Postgraduate	135H Applied Sciences	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2016
ONPS2526	Bundoora Campus	Postgraduate	171H School of Science	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2017, Sem 2 2017, Sem 2 2019, Sem 2 2020, Sem 2 2021, Sem 2 2022, Sem 2 2023
ONPS2697	RMIT University Vietnam	Undergraduate	171H School of Science	Face-to-Face	Viet3 2023

Course Coordinator: Dr Lisa Newman

Course Coordinator Phone: -

Course Coordinator Email: lisa.newman@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Availability: Please email for an appointment

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

Assumed Knowledge

You should have knowledge of basic statistics and be familiar with a statistical package such as Minitab, SPSS or the Excel statistics add-on.

Course Description

Sensory science is central to research as well as studies in product development, quality control and quality assurance. The effect of foods on our senses is neither simple nor totally understood. The complexity of the stimulus of a food product on any one of our senses is affected by a vast number of factors, including: nature and presentation of the specific food matrix, the age, gender, background, sensory sensitivity of the consumer, even the conditions under which the test is carried out. Despite these limitations, the area of sensory evaluation is used to establish the credibility of a potential new product or the effectiveness of a modification to a new product.

This course will develop students’ understanding and application of sensory evaluation. This is undertaken through exploration of the practical and theoretical aspects of sensory evaluation and analysis. In this course, students deal with practical real world sensory related problems in a team approach.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

This course contributes to the following Program Learning Outcomes at AQF level 7:

PLO-1 Understanding science
1.1 You will demonstrate an understanding of the scientific method and an ability to apply the scientific method in practice.
1.2 & 1.4 You will demonstrate a coherent understanding of the role and relevance of Food Science in society.  

PLO-2 Scientific knowledge
2.1 You will exhibit depth and breadth of the core concepts in food science and technology
2.2 You will demonstrate an ability to implement the principles and practices that underpin product development and quality assurance
2.3 You will develop an appreciation of the significance of research to the development of innovative, safe and healthy foods  

PLO-3 Inquiry and problem solving 
3.2 & 3.4 You will be able to critically analyse and solve scientific problems by gathering and critically evaluating information from a range of sources (including scientific literature and data bases), and then synthesise information relevant to a scientific inquiry
3.3 You will be able to demonstrate the ability to employ and apply appropriate critical and analytical thought in a scientific manner to issues related to food technology.  

PLO-4 Communication
4.1 You will be an effective communicator of sensory sciences by effectively communicating scientific results, information, or arguments (in written mode) for a variety of purposes and audiences.   

PLO-5 Personal and professional responsibility
5.1 You will be accountable for individual learning and scientific work by being an independent and self-directed learner. 
5.3 & 5.4 5.2. You will be accountable for individual learning and scientific work by working effectively, responsibly, ethically, and safely in an individual or team context.   

Upon successful completion of this course you should be able to:

1. Evaluate, describe and apply the elements of good sensory practice;
2. Compare, select and use appropriate discrimination, descriptive and affective methods of sensory evaluation and apply these to real world scenarios;
3. Explain and apply the importance of untrained and trained panellists including the procedure needed to train panellists;
4. Explain the sensory physiology of colour, taste and odour (flavour), and describe how we perceive them and factors that affect perception, drawing from real world examples;
5. Describe and apply the principles and practices of sensory analysis for product development and novel technologies;
6. Locate and critique peer reviewed sensory science literature, identifying gaps in the literature, and apply effective written communication skills to disseminate foundation knowledge, and interpretation skills for sensory data including statistical analysis.

Overview of Learning Activities

You will be actively engaged in a range of learning activities such as lectorials, tutorials, practicals, laboratories, seminars, project work, class discussion, individual and group activities. Delivery may be face to face, online or a mix of both. 

You are encouraged to be proactive and self-directed in your learning, asking questions of your lecturer and/or peers and seeking out information as required, especially from the numerous sources available through the RMIT library, and through links and material specific to this course that is available through myRMIT Studies Course

Overview of Learning Resources

RMIT will provide you with resources and tools for learning in this course through myRMIT Studies Course. 

There are services available to support your learning through the University Library. The Library provides guides on academic referencing and subject specialist help as well as a range of study support services. For further information, please visit the Library page on the RMIT University website and the myRMIT student portal.

Overview of Assessment

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task 1: Online Knowledge Checks
Weighting: 20%
This assessment task supports CLOs 1, 2, 3 & 4

Assessment Task 2: Written Blog
Weighting: 25%
This assessment task supports CLOs 4 & 6

Assessment Task 3: Descriptive Analysis Report
Weighting: 35%
This assessment task supports CLOs 2, 3, 4 & 6

Assessment Task 4: Individual Case Study
Weighting: 20%
This assessment task supports CLOs 1, 2, 4, 5 & 6

If you have a long-term medical condition and/or disability it may be possible to negotiate to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program coordinator or Equitable Learning Services if you would like to find out more.