91138 Investigation of Human Remains
Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a
particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source
of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.
Subject handbook information prior to 2018 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Result type: Grade and marks
Requisite(s): 65342 Crime Scene Investigation
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses. See access conditions.
Description
This subject introduces students to a variety of disciplines that can assist in investigating forensic cases involving human remains. The investigation of human remains encompasses the examination of unexplained deaths resulting from a variety of circumstances – these include missing persons, homicide or manslaughter, mass disasters, and acts of genocide. Death may be recent or historical; disasters may be natural or man-made. The victim(s) may be recently deceased, may have undergone degrees of decomposition, or may be completely skeletonised by the time of discovery and recovery. Depending on the circumstances, the investigation can be carried out by any combination of specialists: crime scene examiners; forensic biologists and chemists; archaeologists and anthropologists; pathologists; and taphonomists, to name a few. Overall, the aims of the investigation are to:
- search for and locate the deceased
- recover their remains and any associated evidence
- establish the identity of the deceased
- understand the cause of death and the circumstances surrounding it.
At the completion of the subject, students should have a greater understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of human remains investigations and the multitude of disciplines available to investigators when recently deceased, decomposed or skeletal remains are located. This is achieved by presentations by experts during lectures and workshops in a wide range of these disciplines. The lectures aim to introduce a selection of relevant topics and the workshops provide students the opportunity to gain additional knowledge of these disciplines through flipped learning and practical assessments.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
| 1. | Understand and relate the types of investigations that may involve human remains and the varying personnel who may be involved |
|---|---|
| 2. | Understand and apply the taphonomic factors which can impact human remains and their ability to be discovered and recovered |
| 3. | Develop a search strategy and describe the tools that are available to investigators |
| 4. | Recognise associated evidence that could be important to the investigation |
| 5. | Identify and apply techniques that may assist with determining the identity of the deceased and ascertain how this may differ for disaster victim identification |
| 6. | Reflect on the importance of ethics when working with human remains |
| 7. | Develop written, visual and oral communication skills to convey information to diverse audiences (e.g. academic, police, court, etc.) |
| 8. | Demonstrate planning and organisational skills for teamwork and collaborative activities |
| 9. | Engage in reflective feedback, including self and peer assessment, to develop life-long skills for their professional career |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes specifically to the development of following course intended learning outcomes:
- An understanding of the nature, practice and application of the chosen science discipline. (1.0)
- Encompasses problem solving, critical thinking and analysis attributes and an understanding of the scientific method knowledge acquisition. (2.0)
- The ability to acquire, develop, employ and integrate a range of technical, practical and professional skills, in appropriate and ethical ways within a professional context, autonomously and collaboratively and across a range of disciplinary and professional areas, e.g. time management skills, personal organisation skills, teamwork skills, computing skills, laboratory skills, data handling, quantitative and graphical literacy skills. (3.0)
- The capacity to engage in reflection and learning beyond formal educational contexts that is based on the ability to make effective judgments about one?s own work. The capacity to learn in and from new disciplines to enhance the application of scientific knowledge and skills in professional contexts. (4.0)
- An awareness of the role of science within a global culture and willingness to contribute actively to the shaping of community views on complex issues where the methods and findings of science are relevant. (5.0)
- An understanding of the different forms of communication - writing, reading, speaking, listening -, including visual and graphical, within science and beyond and the ability to apply these appropriately and effectively for different audiences. (6.0)
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
This subject contributes to the personal, professional and intellectual development of students by encouraging the following Graduate Attributes:
1 – Disciplinary knowledge and its appropriate application
Students will develop an understanding of the disciplinary, professional and technical knowledge of the investigation of human remains, including a range of diverse examination techniques. Students will be assessed on their learned knowledge in assessment tasks 1 and 2. Students will be assessed on their application of this knowledge in assessment tasks 3 and 4.
2 – An enquiry-oriented approach
Students will develop their investigative and problem-solving skills through the teamwork and peer-review assessment tasks. Designing a taphonomic experiment (assessment task 2) will challenge the students to develop novel research questions through review of the literature. The case report (assessment task 3) provides an opportunity for students to develop skills related to the critical analysis of forensic case data.
3 – Professional skills and their appropriate application
Students will acquire, develop, and employ a range of professional skills, both independently and collaboratively in assessment tasks 1, 3 and 4. This subject will help to develop universal skills such as time management, planning and organisation, teamwork and negotiation. An awareness of the ethics in scientific experimentation will also be gained and their ability to reflect on the importance of this value will be assessed in assessment task 2 and 4.
4 – Ability to be a lifelong learner
Collaborative peer learning is a major goal of the workshops as teams of students are required to cooperatively engage in creative thinking and produce a presentation and case report. Students will undertake peer-assessment in assessment task 2.
5 – Engagement with the needs of society
Students will learn about human remains investigations and the social impact it can have on members of society in assessment tasks 1, 2 and 4. Through the lecture material, they will understand the value of assisting law enforcement agencies involved in search and recovery investigations for missing persons, or victims of homicide, genocide, and/or mass disasters. They will learn about the importance of providing accurate evidence to the criminal justice system to ensure the appropriate prosecution of offenders (assessment task 3). Students will also gain an understanding of the moral and ethical treatment of human remains and the need to recover and identify victim remains, not only for social justice but for the mental welfare of their family and friends. These aspects will be addressed in the workshop sessions.
6 – Communication skills
Extensive development of written, visual and oral communication skills will be achieved throughout the lecture and workshops sessions. Various methods of documenting and communicating findings will be discussed through the workshops and subsequently implemented in assessment tasks 2, 3, and 4. Written skills will also be developed and assessed through the case report (assessment task 3). Students are provided self-guided opportunities to evaluate their own learning outcomes throughout the subject. Visual communication skills will be developed through assessment task 2. Oral communication skills will be developed through the collaborative teamwork in assessment tasks 2 and 4 where peer feedback will be provided.
Teaching and learning strategies
Learning Support: UTSOnline is used for the distribution of all learning materials. Students MUST prepare before coming to class. This is crucial for the successful participation during the lectures as active learners. UTSOnline will be used to engage with content as well as to promote dialogue and engage in discussions with your peers. Feedback on progress is provided through formal feedback on assessment tasks. Feedback is also provided informally during the lectures and interactive workshop sessions using SPARKPlus.
Lectures: The lecture timetable will be according to the schedule included elsewhere in this document. Please download the Class Timetable for information on Day, Time and Location for lectures and workshops. Student announcements and relevant course materials and documents will be made available as handouts and/or downloads through UTSOnline. Please note that Guest Lecturers may not always provide handouts. The material they present in class is examinable. Students are thus advised to: [1] be present and, [2] diligently take notes in class.
Students will be required to read several relevant journal articles and watch an online video prior to the first lecture. Learnings from these articles will be assessed in an online quiz in the first class on March 20. Each subsequent lecture will be actively assessed in the following lecture through an online quiz. Students are thus encouraged to attend all lectures as the online quizzes represent an assessment component of this subject.
Workshops: This subject will involve a significant amount of collaborative teamwork throughout the workshops. This will help students to develop a high degree of planning and organisational skills and demonstrate the value of working cohesively and collaboratively as a group. These aspects are assessable and will involve peer-review and reflection of their learnings, skills, and attributes gained. The workshops are interactive and students will have the opportunity to engage in active learning activities, as well as receive feedback from the peers and tutors.
Assessments: Students will undertake four assessment tasks. Assessment task 1 will involve active learning in the classroom through weekly online quizzes. Students will receive immediate feedback on their learning. Assessment task 2 will assess the students’ collaborative teamwork and skills through the design and presentation of a novel research question involving human remains. These skills will also be assessed in assessment task 3 which involves the preparation of an expert case report for the police based on a death investigation. The final assessment task will assess the students’ practical abilities and application of the knowledge gained through lecture material and reflection. Authentic assessments will be part of this subject as students will be exposed to real case scenarios presented by the lecturer and guest lecturers who all act as consultants for police casework.
Content (topics)
The subject matter has been divided into the following major themes:
- “Search and locate” lectures will address forensic taphonomy, decomposition chemistry, and search and detection strategies
- “Recovery of human remains” lectures will address forensic archaeology, evidence associated with human remains, and forensic botany and palynology
- “Identification of Human Remains” lectures will address forensic anthropology, craniofacial anthropometry and disaster victim identification
- “Understanding the cause and manner of death” lectures will address forensic pathology
It is intended that the subject will not only contextualize these topics to the investigation of homicide and manslaughter, but also look at other scenarios that include the identification of human remains, such as missing persons, mass disasters, archaeological and historical investigations.
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Weekly online quiz for pre-reading and lecture content
| Intent: | This assessment task contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes: 1. Disciplinary knowledge and its appropriate application |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 |
| Type: | Quiz/test |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Criteria: | Students will be assessed on:
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Assessment task 2: Design a taphonomic experiment for the body farm
| Intent: | This assessment task contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes: 1. Disciplinary knowledge and its appropriate application 2. An enquiry-oriented approach 3. Professional skills and their appropriate application 4. Ability to be a life-long learner 5. Engagement with the needs of society 6. Communication skills |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 and 9 This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 and 6.0 |
| Type: | Presentation |
| Groupwork: | Group, group assessed |
| Weight: | 20% |
| Length: | The presentation should be a maximum of 5 minutes. |
| Criteria: | Students will be assessed on the following criteria for their presentation:
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Assessment task 3: Written expert opinion report
| Intent: | This assessment task contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes: 2. An enquiry-oriented approach 3. Professional skills and their appropriate application 4. Ability to be a life-long learner 6. Communication skills |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and 8 This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and 6.0 |
| Type: | Report |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 25% |
| Length: | A Word document of five (5) pages maximum, including 8-12 references and appendices. |
| Criteria: | Students will be assessed on:
A detailed rubric will be presented during the workshops on May 8 & 9. |
Assessment task 4: Working with human remains
| Intent: | This assessment task contributes to the development of the following graduate attributes: 1. Disciplinary knowledge and its appropriate application 5. Engagement with the needs of society |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses subject learning objective(s): 2, 4, 5 and 6 This assessment task contributes to the development of course intended learning outcome(s): 1.0 and 5.0 |
| Type: | Laboratory/practical |
| Groupwork: | Group, individually assessed |
| Weight: | 25% |
| Criteria: | Students will be assessed on:
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Minimum requirements
Any assessment task worth 40% or more requires the student to gain at least 40% of the mark for that task. If 40% is not reached, an X grade fail may be awarded for the subject, irrespective of an overall mark greater than 50.
The late submission of an assessment task may attract a penalty of up to 10% per day.
Recommended texts
As no one textbook is able to cover all the diverse aspects of Investigation of Human Remains, there is no prescribed text for this subject. However, some digital resources may be posted periodically on UTSOnline.
