Course Title: Human Sensory Evaluation

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Human Sensory Evaluation

Credit Points: 12.00


Course Coordinator: Dr Penny Brotja

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925

Course Coordinator Email: penny.brotja2@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

POSTGRADUATE

This course contributes to the Program Learning Outcomes for the following programs:

MC111 Master of Biotechnology

MC237 Master of Food Science and Technology

For more information on the Program Learning Outcomes for your program, please see the program guide. 


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 guided through the subject by recorded lectures that will explain and discuss the key concepts. There will also be a set of practical classes in the laboratory to achieve competence in technical skills associated with the sensory and instrumental evaluation of food products. You will have the roles of active learners and have the responsibility of attending and actively participating in all planned student learning experiences, reading all relevant references pointed out during planned student learning experiences and undertaking such other private study as will benefit your learning toward the objectives of the course. There will be non-contact work associated with complementary self-directed learning. There will also be an assignment by individuals and/or a team on topics relating to the field of study.


Overview of Learning Resources

All notes and learning materials required to complete the course with be available on the course Canvas site. You will also be referred to specific chapters in the recommended textbook, other library resources and links to resources online.


Overview of Assessment

This course has no hurdle requirements.

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

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

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

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