Talk:2016 Group Project 4

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Group Assessment Criteria  
Mark Hill.jpg Science Student Projects
  1. The key points relating to the topic that your group allocated are clearly described.
  2. The choice of content, headings and sub-headings, diagrams, tables, graphs show a good understanding of the topic area.
  3. Content is correctly cited and referenced.
  4. The wiki has an element of teaching at a peer level using the student's own innovative diagrams, tables or figures and/or using interesting examples or explanations.
  5. Evidence of significant research relating to basic and applied sciences that goes beyond the formal teaching activities.
  6. Relates the topic and content of the Wiki entry to learning aims of embryology.
  7. Clearly reflects on editing/feedback from group peers and articulates how the Wiki could be improved (or not) based on peer comments/feedback. Demonstrates an ability to review own work when criticised in an open edited wiki format. Reflects on what was learned from the process of editing a peer's wiki.
  8. Evaluates own performance and that of group peers to give a rounded summary of this wiki process in terms of group effort and achievement.
  9. The content of the wiki should demonstrate to the reader that your group has researched adequately on this topic and covered the key areas necessary to inform your peers in their learning.
  10. Develops and edits the wiki entries in accordance with the above guidelines.
More Information on Assessment Criteria | Science Student Projects
Signalling: 1 Wnt | 2 Notch | 3 FGF Receptor | 4 Hedgehog | 5 T-box | 6 TGF-Beta
Here are some starting places for the topic. Can be patterning, differentiation, etc. as long as a developmental signal process/pathway.

Peer review



Group 4:

Positive aspects of the project and suggested improvements:

Group 4 has provided numerous headings related to the Hedgehog pathway, such as its involvement in organ development, neural development as well as its mechanism of signalling during embryonic development (criteria 1). The group has also used an image of the signalling pathway to help provide a visual description of the different components of Hedgehog signalling (criteria 2). The authors of this project have also provided in-text citations for all information utilised and have also included a list of references at the end of their page (criteria 3). It is also evident that the group has investigated the involvement of the Shh signalling pathway outside of the scope of human embryonic development by exploring its role in mice, chicks and fruit flies, which is excellent (criteria 5 and 6). The authors have also began to include new research and abnormalities related to the Shh pathway (criteria 1).

In order to further improve these positive aspects, the authors may provide a written description of the signalling pathway alongside the diagram utilised. This is because it is difficult to understand the signalling pathway just by looking at a diagram. Also, a suggestion would be to include a greater variety of diagrams and tables to support the descriptions already provided. Diagrams may relate to the animal models or the abnormalities described. A table may be utilised to summarise the history of the signalling pathway, such as different components of the pathway that were discovered and the year in which they were discovered. Additionally, whilst it appears that most of the information is correctly referenced, the authors have not correctly referenced the diagram that has been utilised to describe the signalling pathway, which is a breach of copyright laws. Therefore, a suggestion would be to ensure that all diagrams are referenced when added to the page.

Negative aspects of the project and suggested improvements:

Whilst there were positive aspects to this project, a key negative aspect of the project is that the authors have not provided an introduction describing what the Hedgehog signalling pathway is. The introduction may include an overview of the nature and role of the hedgehog signalling pathway in embryonic development, thereby introducing headings in your page. It is also evident that the authors have not met criteria 2 completely, in that a small number of subheadings were utilised. Take for example the heading, “organogenesis”, no subheadings have been created under this heading. A suggested improvement would be to include subheadings relating to specific organs formed by the actions of the Shh pathway, accompanied by an in-depth description and diagrams. It is also evident that the authors utilise complex terminology within their description that often make it difficult to grasp certain concepts. Terms include “knockout”, “autocrine”, “appendage” and “paracrine” for example. A suggestion for improvement would be to include a table of glossary terms at the end of the page, defining these terms.

It also appears that the authors have not provided a history regarding the Hedgehog signalling pathway and its discovery. A suggestion would be to include a timeline regarding the discovery of this signalling pathway, as it provides the audience with a background of how Shh came to be known.

Group 4

A good start has been made to the project with the appropriate selection of headings and subheadings which provide a brief overview of what is to be discussed in terms of the Hedgehog signalling pathway. By breaking down the mechanism of the pathway, it made the foreign concept much easier to understand. In saying this, this section is quite text-heavy and may benefit with the relocation of the included diagram or even inclusion of other diagrams and flowcharts to engage readers. With the introduction of a fairly new concept, the inclusion of visual or audio stimuli and maybe even a short quiz may encourage interaction with readers.

The discussion of this pathway in mammals exposed readers to the diversity of the Hh signalling pathway but in saying this, the inclusion of a table may be useful to compare and contrast the differences between the pathways in mammals and insects. Overall, this section was well written. On the other hand, when considering the section on animal models, it provided insight into the role of Hh signalling pathway on embryological development and offered a brief introduction to the abnormalities caused by disruptions of this pathway. Once again, the inclusion of diagrams would be useful in this section to provide visual insight into the research being performed.

Though there has been significant exploration of the mechanism and animal models utilised in this pathway, more work is needed to link this pathway to embryological development and this could provide a good leeway into understanding the abnormalities associated with disruption of this pathway. This project can be significantly improved simply by focusing on making it more interactive ad engaging with the inclusion of a variety of stimuli like tables, diagrams, quizzes and even videos. In addition, all information has been well cited and referenced and there has been substantial communication between group members, allowing team members to provide feedback and suggestions thus, ultimately increasing the quality of the work produced.


Group 4 – Hedgehog Pathway

Positive aspects of this project include that Group 4 appear to have well defined subheadings, which function well to help the reader navigate through the page. The information is appropriately referenced using in-text citations, appearing to be from both primary and review articles. There is a significant amount of research on the mechanisms of the pathway but less of a focus on the role of this pathway in embryonic development, which I think is really important in order to relate it back to what we are leaning in both the lectures and tutorials. I think the inclusion of current research is a very important aspect to include in this project, as it identifies the current direction in which this research is heading. This might be also interesting to link to its clinical significance and abnormalities in the signaling pathway.

However, some negative aspects of the page include the lack of an introduction as this essentially establishes your page. You need to include a brief outline of the signaling pathway, a summary of its role in development and the other aspects of it you are looking to discuss. Furthermore, the inclusion of an image outlining the signaling pathway without any information inducing or explaining it should be corrected. The project appears to be very informative but isn’t very interactive and lacks images. Perhaps sourcing images of results from some of the primary articles, which you have referenced or include videos outlining the signaling pathway, might be a useful addition. It might be a good idea to include a glossary at the bottom of the page to help readers to better understand some of these more difficult terms. Also under the subheading of history, like in some of the other projects, a table could be a useful addition, just summarizing all the scientific advances regarding this pathway since it was first discovered, this helps set up how far we have come and then may be helpful when talking about the direction in which we are heading under current research.

In conclusion, this looks like it’s on its way to being a successful project. In summary though, a greater emphasis on its role in embryonic development and conscious effort to make the page more interactive and engaging for the reader will go a long way.


Z5019880 (talk) 14:58, 26 August 2016 (AEST) Hey guys, I have added some sub-headings for the hedgehog signalling pathway, feel free to add any headings that might be useful for the topic, or suggest a different topic.

Hey guys, I've started doing some research on the animal models for the Hedgehog signalling pathway. I'm currently finding it a little difficult understanding some of the terms when researching the experiments done on Drosophila melanogaster so I was wondering if you had any suggestions as to how much detail to include. Also I have included some links that maybe useful for those researching mechanism and history: [1] [2]

Also, I thought I would just put in writing here that we want everyone to have completed their parts by the end of mid semester break so that we can meet up the following week to fix any issues with formatting and work on the introduction, conclusion etc. Thanks guys!! P.S. Did Mark mention that we shouldn't use research articles?

Z5019880 (talk) 23:30, 12 September 2016 (AEST) Hey, what you have added is really good! To be honest I'm not completely sure about how technical we have to be, because I have also found my self that there is a lot of chemistry when it comes to the signalling pathways etc. which makes it incredibly difficult for me to understand. At this point I reckon what you have now is enough, but we can always revisit it when we have added more to the page, to keep the content at a consistent depth. Also with regards to the research articles, I'm not entirely sure what Mark said, but I'm sure it would be alright to see what is written, and click into the citations to get further information, and just cite that. Anyway I've added a small piece on the processing of the Hh protein, but am unsure if It would be necessary to go more into the chemistry behind how the auto-cleavage occurs.

So I've read what you have written and I think it sounds coherent and it's also very easy to understand so good job! I think I'll do a little more research, I think it might be a little tedious to add information of Shh knockout mice considering the experiments on the chick embryo were quite similar but I'm open to suggestions. I was also thinking it would be useful to include a link to a short youtube video of some sort that would be able to visually explain the Hh signalling pathway (something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1xXD9kss2w but unfortunately this video has no audio but has some good visual and written cues). In regards to an image, I actually found a pretty decent image of this pathway but I'm not too sure if we can use it due to copyright. It says we can if it's not for commercial use so I think we should be ok.

Please let me know what you think of the diagram. I've just added something that looks like it could be helpful but feel free to edit/remove it if you don't think it is appropriate :)

Z5019880 (talk) 22:28, 26 September 2016 (AEST) The diagram looks great! I reckon as long as we include all the copyright it should be fine. We can probably eventually move the image next to the mechanism of signalling section when it is finished. I have started it, and will continue finishing it tomorrow, so if there are any issues with how I'm going about it, please don't hesitate to tell me.

Good idea! I've added some information on Shh Knockout mice so any feedback on what I have written will be greatly appreciated! I'm also thinking of looking into videos that we could link as part of our assignment to make the concept easier to understand.

Z5019880 (talk) 21:30, 28 September 2016 (AEST) Hey, I've read your section on Shh and it seems good. In terms of what you could add, do you reckon it is appropriate to talk about the advantage of using each of the models over one another, and possible problems you might encounter with each model. I get that it's probably hard to find material on that, so don't worry if that's the case. Also a video would be a great idea, although we should first check with Mark with regards to what sources would be appropriate. Anyway I have finished the first part of the mechanism part regarding the general pathway for Hh proteins that have specifically been studied in the fruit fly, and will continue onto vertebrates later. I was wondering from what you guys have studied on this pathway if I have covered most of the areas sufficiently and in a coherent matter. Any other feedback is also appreciated.

I've read what you've written and you've successfully made it really easy to understand. From the knowledge I've gained through reading articles on this pathway, I don't think you have missed anything thus far. The only improvement I could suggest is maybe referencing an image in your explanation so that readers have a visual stimulus to refer to to ease understanding of the pathway. In regards to looking at the differences between the models, I genuinely tried to find a comparison between the animal models but was met with no such information unfortunately. I'll try and have a look sometime soon. Also, I was thinking maybe we could include a quiz of some sort to make our project more interactive. We could do this by adding a quiz after each section or just one quiz at the very end. Our project is also quite text heavy so I think we should find more images and other stimuli to make it more interesting. We should create a timeline of events for the history of the pathway in the form of a table. Also, should we create a glossary?

Also, quick question, who's handling history, function and current research?

  1. <pubmed>17925578</pubmed>
  2. <pubmed>26839340</pubmed>