BMI2605/101/3/2022

Tutorial Letter 101/3/2022

Pharmacology
BMI2605

Semester 1 and 2

Department of Life and Consumer Sciences

This tutorial letter contains important information about your module.

BARCODE
 CONTENTS
Page

1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 3
2 PURPOSE AND OUTCOMES ........................................................................................................ 3
2.1 Purpose .......................................................................................................................................... 3
2.2 Outcomes ....................................................................................................................................... 3
3 CURRICULUM TRANSFORMATION ............................................................................................ 4
4 LECTURER(S) AND CONTACT DETAILS .................................................................................... 4
4.1 Lecturer(s) ...................................................................................................................................... 4
4.2 Department ..................................................................................................................................... 4
4.3 University ........................................................................................................................................ 4
5 RESOURCES ................................................................................................................................. 6
5.1 Prescribed book(s) .......................................................................................................................... 6
5.2 Recommended book(s) .................................................................................................................. 6
5.3 Electronic reserves (e-reserves) ..................................................................................................... 6
5.4 Library services and resources information………………………………………………………………6

6 STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES ................................................................................................. 7

6.1 First-Year Experience Programme @ Unisa .................................................................................. 7
7 STUDY PLAN ................................................................................................................................. 8
8 PRACTICAL WORK ....................................................................................................................... 9
9 ASSESSMENT ............................................................................................................................... 9
9.1 Assessment criteria ........................................................................................................................ 9
9.2 Assessment plan ............................................................................................................................ 9
9.3 Assignment due dates .................................................................................................................. 10
9.4 Submission of assignments .......................................................................................................... 10
9.5 The assignments .......................................................................................................................... 11
9.6 Other assessment methods .......................................................................................................... 11
9.7 The examination ........................................................................................................................... 11
10 ACADEMIC DISHONESTY…………………………………………………………….………………..12

10.1 Plagiarism…………………………………………………………………………………………………..12

10.2 Cheating………………………………………………………………………………………………….…12

11 STUDENTS WITH A DISABILITY……………………………………………………………………….12

12 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS .......................................................................................... 13

13 SOURCES CONSULTED ............................................................................................................. 13
14 IN CLOSING ................................................................................................................................. 13
15 ADDENDUM ................................................................................................................................. 13

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1 INTRODUCTION
Congratulations for making it to second year and welcome to Biomedical Sciences, particularly
Pharmacology! I hope that you will have an enjoyable and fruitful academic year. This module is
offered in the Department of Life and Consumer Sciences and your lecturer is Mr. Charmy Twala.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you success with your academic year.

This module is offered online (all information is available via the internet) and will therefore
encourage you to register on myUnisa. Please check this site regularly for updates, posted
announcements and additional resources uploaded throughout the semester. Rapid
communications throughout the semester(s) have been made possible through myUnisa. You
can use the myUnisa site to submit assignments and we strongly recommend that you submit
your assignment online as this will ensure that you receive rapid feedback and comments.

In addition, via myUnisa, you can acquire your official study material and other additional learning
resources, gain access to the Unisa Library functions, ‘chat’ to your lecturers or to fellow students
and participate in online discussion forums. If at any stage while you are studying you have any
questions or require assistance with problems, we are available to assist. My contact details are
listed in section 4: Lecturer(s) and contact details in this tutorial letter.

Some of the tutorial material may not be available when you register. If this is the case, this tutorial
material will be posted to you as soon as possible. Please note that tutorial matter is also available
on myUnisa. Please read the instructions in this tutorial letter carefully and prepare Assignments
01 and 02 ONLY for the semester for which you are registered. Once you have completed and
submitted the assignments you can use the questions in the other assignments as practice or in
preparation for the exam. It is very important that your first assignment reaches Unisa on or before
the due date. Students who have not submitted this assignment by the due date will not be allowed
to write the examination.

2 PURPOSE AND OUTCOMES

2.1 Purpose

Qualifying students are able to know, understand and apply the principles and theory relating to
pharmacology, the discipline involved in understanding drug design and action.

2.2 Outcomes

After completing this module, each student should be able to:

• Define, describe and apply knowledge of the action of drugs to target
molecules associated with disease
• Describe the action of drugs that are used to control diseases of the central
nervous system
• Describe the pharmacology of drug abuse
• Describe the action of drugs that are used to treat hypertension
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3 CURRICULUM TRANSFORMATION
Unisa has implemented a transformation charter based on five pillars and eight dimensions. In
response to this charter, we have placed curriculum transformation high on the teaching and
learning agenda. Curriculum transformation includes the following pillars: student-centred
scholarship, the pedagogical renewal of teaching and assessment practices, the scholarship of
teaching and learning, and the infusion of African epistemologies and philosophies. These pillars
and their principles will be integrated at both programme and module levels as a phased-in
approach. You will notice a marked change in the teaching and learning strategy implemented by
Unisa, together with how the content is conceptualised in your modules. We encourage you to
embrace these changes during your studies at Unisa in a responsive way within the framework
of transformation.

4 LECTURER(S) AND CONTACT DETAILS

4.1 Lecturer(s)

Primary lecturer: Mr. Charmy Twala

Telephone number: +27 11 471 3702 (during office hours 8:00 – 16:00)
Email address: [email protected]

Postal address:
The Lecturer
Department of Life and Consumer Sciences
Private Bag x6
Florida 1710

NOTE: You may enclose more than one letter in an envelope, but do not address enquiries to
different departments (e.g. Despatch and Library Services) in the same letter. This will cause a
delay in the replies to your enquiries. Please write a separate letter to each department and mark
each letter clearly for the attention of that department. Letters to lecturers may not be enclosed
together with assignments. Always write your student number and the module code at the top of
your letter.

4.2 Department

The Department of Life and Consumer Sciences is located in the Calabash Building, Unisa
Science Campus, Roodepoort, Johannesburg. The Departmental telephone number is +2711 471
2230/2292.

4.3 University

Should you need to contact the university concerning matters not related to the content of this
module, consult the publication Study@Unisa, which you received with your study material. This
brochure contains information on how to contact the university (e.g., to whom you can write for
different queries, important telephone and fax numbers, addresses and details of the opening and
closing times of particular facilities).

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You can also make use of the following contact routes:

Unisa web site : http://www.unisa.ac.za & http://mobi.unisa.ac.za

Email (general enquiries) [email protected]
[email protected] queries related to application and registration.
[email protected] for assignment enquiries
[email protected] for examination enquiries
[email protected] for study material enquiries
[email protected] for student account enquiries
[email protected] for assistance with myUnisa
[email protected] for assistance with myLife email accounts

NOTE: Whenever you contact the university, whether in writing or telephonically, always mention
the module code and your student number.

myUnisa web page

Access to the myUnisa website requires a computer that is linked to the internet (internet access
is available to you at provincial libraries, internet cafés and Unisa regional telecentres, see
myUnisa for a list of these places in your area). You should also note that some of these center’s
allow free internet access on presentation of your student card

If you have online access, you should do the following to get started with this module:

• Go to myUnisa (http://my.unisa.ac.za)
• Log in with your myUnisa login details. If you are not sure how to do this, consult the
publication Study@Unisa. You should have received this with your study
material. Alternatively, use the link to access the publication
• Once logged in, you will see a link to the module code. If this is not at the top of your
screen, click on 'More sites' and select it from the drop-down menu
• Once you are in the site for this module, read the welcome message
• Now click on Additional Resources, then on the subfolder Tutorial Matter, and then on
Tutorial Letter 101. Read this letter carefully.

For module-specific information, log in and click on:

BMI2605-22-S1 (for semester 1)

OR
BMI2605-22-S2 (for semester 2)

With the aid of myUnisa, you will ultimately be able to use the internet to perform all study-related
functions. You will find that this module requires you to use the internet to access information on
aspects of Pharmacology. Please take careful note of details of published articles and online links
and the information in the associated online articles. Note: you will be required in your
assignments to accurately reference articles that you access online.
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5 RESOURCES
5.1 Prescribed book(s)

The title of your prescribed textbook is:

Brenner G.M. and Stevens C.W. (2018) Pharmacology, 5th edition, Saunders Elsevier,
Philadelphia (ISBN: 978-0-323-39166-5)

Please refer to the list of official booksellers and their addresses in the Unisa brochure,
Study@Unisa. If you have difficulty in locating an appropriate textbook at the Unisa
Booksellers, please contact the Unisa Prescribed Book Section at Tel: 012 429-4152 or e-
mail [email protected]
Textbooks can be ordered on the Internet at http://amazon.com or http://www.kalahari.net
or http://www.exclusivebooks.com. Note that second-hand books are available at the
following Web sites: http://www.amazon.com or http://www.fetchbooks.com.

5.2 Recommended book(s)

There are no recommended books for this module, additional learning material will be uploaded
on myUnisa.

5.3 Electronic reserves (e-reserves)

There are no e-reserves for this module. Announcements will be posted on myUnisa as and when
required.

E-reserves can be downloaded from the library catalogue. More information is available at:
http://libguides.unisa.ac.za/request/request

5.4 Library services and resources information

The Unisa Library offers a range of information services and resources:

• For brief information, go to https://www.unisa.ac.za/library/libatglance

• For more detailed Library information, go to
http://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/Library
• For research support and services (e.g. Personal Librarians and literature search
services), go to http://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/Library/Library-
services/Research-support
• The library has created numerous Library guides: http://libguides.unisa.ac.za

Recommended guides:

• Request and find library material/download recommended material:

http://libguides.unisa.ac.za/request/request
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• Postgraduate information services: http://libguides.unisa.ac.za/request/postgrad

• Finding and using library resources and tools:
http://libguides.unisa.ac.za/Research_skills
• Frequently asked questions about the library:
http://libguides.unisa.ac.za/ask
• Services to students living with disabilities:
http://libguides.unisa.ac.za/disability

Important contact information:

• Ask a Librarian: https://libguides.unisa.ac.za/ask
• Technical problems accessing library online services: [email protected]
• General library related queries: [email protected]
• For queries related to library fines and payments: [email protected]

6 STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES

The Study@Unisa website is available on myUnisa: www.unisa.ac.za/brochures/studies. The
website has all the tips and information you need to succeed at Unisa.

6.1 First-Year Experience Programme @ Unisa

For many students, the transition from school education to tertiary education is beset with anxiety.
This is also true for first-time students to Unisa. Unisa is a dedicated open distance and e-learning
institution. Unlike face-to-face/contact institutions, Unisa is somewhat different. It is a mega
university, and all our programmes are offered through a blended learning mode or fully online
learning mode. It is for this reason that we thought it necessary to offer first-time students
additional/extended support so that you can seamlessly navigate the Unisa teaching and learning
journey with little difficulty and few barriers. In this regard we offer a specialised student support
programme to students entering Unisa for the first time. We refer to this programme as Unisa’s
First-Year Experience (FYE) Programme. The FYE is designed to provide you with prompt and
helpful information about services that the institution offers and how you can access information.
The following FYE programmes are currently offered:

• FYE website: All the guides and resources you need to navigate through your first year at
Unisa can be accessed using the following link: www.unisa.ac.za/FYE

• FYE e-mails: You will receive regular e-mails to help you stay focused and motivated.

• FYE broadcasts: You will receive e-mails with links to broadcasts on various topics related to
your first-year studies (e.g. videos on how to submit assignments online).

• FYE mailbox: For assistance with queries related to your first year of study, send an e-mail to
[email protected]

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7 STUDY PLAN
Consult your Study@Unisa brochure for general time management and planning skills. This is a
semester module over 15 weeks and requires 120 hours of study time. This means that you will
have to study 8 hours per week for this module. The following is a recommended time schedule
which can be used as a guideline for studying this module (Table 1). Below this time schedule,
please see an example of a study plan (Table 2).

Table 1: Study guideline

ACTIVITY HOURS
Reading and re-reading study guide 10
Reading relevant chapters in the prescribed textbook 35
Completing study guide activities 10
Studying for and completing the assignments 20
Studying for examination 40
Final revision 5

TOTAL 120

Table 2: Study plan with activities per week

WEEK ACTIVITY (EACH WEEK REPRESENTS 8HOURS STUDY TIME)

1-2 Read through your study material (study guide and tutorial letter) and skim through
your textbook and identify the relevant chapters. This exercise allows you to gain
an overall picture of the module
3-5 Read through your textbook, using your study guide, and identify all the key areas
in the BMI2605 module.
6 Begin with your in-depth study of the initial study units. Please prepare study notes
whilst reading and learning the material
Complete and submit Assignment 1. Please allow sufficient time for the assignment
to reach Unisa before the due date.
7-9 Start to complete your Assignment 2
10-11 Complete and submit Assignment 2. Depending on how you will submit the
completed assignment, please note that you should allow sufficient time for the
assignment to reach Unisa before the due date.
12-14 Begin with your in-depth study of later study units. Please prepare study notes while
reading and learning the material.
15 Revision and preparation for the exam.

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8 PRACTICAL WORK
There are no practicals for this module.

9 ASSESSMENT
9.1 Assessment criteria

Pharmacology has been completed when:

The components of drug action and reaction have been successfully analysed, and when
the student is able to recognize the impact of:

• Interaction between drugs and cell receptors

• The selectivity and specificity of drugs
• Routes of drug administration, drug absorption, drug distribution and drug
elimination.

The characteristics of neurotransmitters, signalling molecules that have a local effect

(autocoids) and hormones have been successfully analysed when the learner is able to
recognize:
• The distribution and functions of neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine and
noradrenaline and their receptor types
• Interaction between drugs and the central nervous system
• The impact of autocoids such as histamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine
• Disorders associated with changes in hormones such as insulin, growth hormone and
glucocorticoids.

An analysis of disease case studies has been successful when learners can discuss:

• The use of drugs in treating diseases of the circulatory system (cardiovascular

disorders) such as angina, hypertension and heart failure
• Drugs used to treat disorders of the central nervous system such as epilepsy,
anxiety, depression and schizophrenia
• Drug therapy of inflammatory disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and asthma

9.2 Assessment plan

• To complete this module, you will be required to submit 2 assignments.

• All information on when and where to submit your assignments will be made available to you
via the myUnisa site for your module.

• Due dates for assignments, as well as the actual assignments are available on the myUnisa
site for this module.

• To gain admission to the examination, you will be required to submit the first assignment for
this module.

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• Your assignments will comprise of a combination of MCQ, defining terminologies and essay
type questions

• You need to obtain a year mark average of 50% for the assignment/s to gain admission to the
examination.

• The assignment weighting for the module is 30%.

• The examination will be a take-home examination.

• The examination will count 70% towards the final module mark.
9.3 Assignment due dates

• There are no assignment due dates included in this tutorial letter.

• Assignment due dates will be made available to you on the landing page of myUnisa for this
module. We envisage that the due dates will be available to you upon registration.

• Please start working on your assignments as soon as you register for the module.

• Log on to the myUnisa site for this module to obtain more information on the due dates for the
submission of the assignments.

9.4 Submission of assignments

• Modules offered by Unisa are either blended (meaning that we use a combination of printed
and online material to engage with you) or online (all information is available via the internet).
In all cases of online engagement, we use myUnisa as our virtual campus.

• From 2022, the myUnisa virtual campus will be offered via a new learning management
system. This is an online system that is used to administer, document and deliver educational
material to you and support engagement with you.

• Look out for information from your lecturer as well as other Unisa platforms to determine how
to access the virtual myUnisa module site.

• Information on the tools that will be available to engage with the lecturer and fellow students
to support your learning will also be communicated via various platforms.

• The University undertakes to communicate as clearly and as frequently as is necessary to

ensure optimum advantage in the use of the new learning management system.

• Additional information on the use of the myUnisa site for the module, as well as features to
engage and communicate with your lecturer and other students will also be made available
via the online site for the module.

• Therefore, log on to the myUnisa site for your module to gain more information on where to
complete and/or upload your assignments and how to communicate with your lecturer.

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9.5 The assignments

As indicated in section 9.2, you need to complete 2 assignments for this module. Assignments
are seen as part of the learning process for this module. As you complete the assignments,
study the textbook, consult other resources, discuss the work with fellow students or do research
so you are actively engaged in learning. Look at the assessment criteria (e.g., the action words
and the mark allocation) given for each assignment question which will help you to understand
what is required of you.

The first assignment of each of your courses is compulsory. You will qualify for examination
admission for a course only if you submit the first assignment by the due date. If more than one
assignment is set for a course, all the assignments for that course will be taken into consideration
when calculating your year mark. Thus, to ensure a good year mark that contributes to improving
your final mark, submit all your assignments on time. Unisa has implemented onscreen marking
of assignments to help you receive quicker feedback. To allow us to mark your assignment
onscreen, please submit all assignments electronically via myUnisa.

9.6 Other assessment methods

Not applicable for BMI2605.

9.7 The examination

Examination information and details on the format of the examination will be made available to
you online via the myUnisa site. Look out for information that will be shared with you by your
lecturer and e-tutors (where relevant) and for communication from the University. You need to
obtain a minimum of 40% in your examination to be able to pass. If you do not obtain at least 40%
in the exams, you will fail even if the combination of year and exam mark is more than 50%. You
will also need a minimum of 40% in the examination to obtain admission to a supplementary
examination.

You require a final mark of 50% to pass this module. Please see the examples below:

• Exam mark below 40% will result in your failing this module.

• Exam mark 40% and Year mark 50% (combination of your first and second assignment
marks) = A final mark of 43% - you will be allowed to write a supplementary exam.
Calculated as:
40 x 70% (0.70) = 28%
50 x 30% (0.30) = 15%

• Exam mark 50% and Year mark 60% = A final mark of 53% - you will pass this module
Calculated as:
50 x 70% (0.70) = 35%
60 x 30% (0.30) = 18%

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As you can see from these examples, it is important to obtain a minimum of 40% for your exam,
as well as submitting both your assignments and work hard to obtain a good year mark to ensure
that you pass the module. At the end of the semester, you will write a three-hour online
examination for BMI2605 which will consist of questions such as those requiring you to provide
definitions of terms, drawing labelled diagrams as well as answering short and longer essay
questions.

10 ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
10.1 Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of taking the words, ideas and thoughts of others and presenting them as
your own. It is a form of theft which involves several dishonest academic activities, such as the
following:

• Cutting and pasting from any source without acknowledging the source.
• Not including or using incorrect references.
• Paraphrasing without acknowledging the original source of the information.
10.2 Cheating
Cheating includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Completing assessments on behalf of another student, copying from another student

during an assessment or allowing a student to copy from you.
• Using social media (e.g., WhatsApp, Telegram) or other platforms to disseminate
assessment information.
• Submitting corrupt or irrelevant files.
• Buying completed answers from “tutors” or internet sites (contract cheating).

More information regarding plagiarism can be downloaded on the link below

https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/myunisa/default/Study-@-Unisa/Student-values-and-rules

11 STUDENTS WITH A DISABILITY

The Advocacy and Resource Centre for Student with Disability ARCSWiD) provides an
opportunity for staff to interact with new and returning students with disabilities.

• If you are a student with a disability and would like additional support or need additional
time for assessments, you are invited to contact me (Mr Charmy Twala;
[email protected]) so that you can be assisted.

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12 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The Study@Unisa brochure contains an A-Z guide of the most relevant study information.

13 SOURCES CONSULTED
Not applicable.

14 IN CLOSING
As your lecturer for BMI2605, I am committed to support you in your studies, and I’m looking
forward to journeying with you in what will be an exciting year. We are confident that you will
continue to enjoy academic excellence in a respectful and caring environment at UNISA. Frequent
visits to myUnisa are important and may determine the level of your success, and I am therefore
looking forward to your active participation on the myUnisa platform. If you have any queries about
the module, you are welcome to contact me by e-mail at the address provided in Section 4.1
above. I wish you all the best in your studies.

15 ADDENDUM
Not applicable.

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