student handbook and study guide - university of central ... · student handbook and study guide...
TRANSCRIPT
Student Handbook and Study GuidePhysics amp Engineering Foundation Year 2015ndash16
School of Physical Sciences and Computing
mdash Physics and Astronomy mdashCourse Leader Brett Patterson
Year Tutor Jason Kirk
School of Engineering
mdash Engineering mdashCourse Leader By specialityYear Tutor Stephen Kirkup
Revision August 14 2015
Preface
This Document
Purpose
This handbook is intended to be a practical source of informa-tion on the academic and administrative aspects of the courseYou will find information on the course operation managementand the assessment regulations The structure and content ofthe course is described together with the assessment strate-gies
Read this handbook carefully and make sure that you un-derstand what is required of you You should also consultthe individual Handbooks for your separate degree coursesShould there be points which you do not understand or wish todiscuss further do not hesitate to contact the Course LeaderYear Tutor or any of your Module Tutors
The canonical online version of this document is kept onthe PhysicsEngineering Foundation Year space on the UCLaneLearn Blackboard system (httpsportaluclanacuk)Please contact Jason Kirk (JMKirkuclanacuk) if you spotany mistake or omissions from this Guide
Copyright Notice
All course materials including lecture notes and other addi-tional materials related to your course and provided to youwhether electronically or in hard copy as part of your studyare the property of (or licensed to) UCLan and MUST not bedistributed sold published made available to others or copiedother than for your personal study use unless you have gainedwritten permission to do so from the Dean of School This ap-plies to the materials in their entirety and to any part of thematerials
Statements
UCLan Mission Statement
bull WE PROMOTE ACCESS TO EXCELLENCE ENABLINGYOU TO DEVELOP YOUR POTENTIAL
bull We value and practise equality of opportunity trans-parency and tolerance
bull We strive for excellence in all we do locally regionallynationally and internationally
bull We work in partnership with business the community andother educators
bull We encourage and promote research innovation and cre-ativity
Student Charter
The Student Charter has been developed by the University andthe Studentsrsquo Union so that students gain the maximum fromtheir UCLan experience It is a two-way commitment or lsquocon-tractrsquo between the University and each individual student Itacts as a means of establishing in black and white what stu-dents can expect from the University and the Union in termsof support and in return what we expect from our studentsRead the full Student Charter
Supporting Diversity at UCLan
UCLan recognises and values individual difference and hasa public duty to promote equality and remove discriminationin relation to race gender disability religion or belief sexualorientation and age During your time at UCLan we expect youto be able to
bull experience ldquoan integrated community based on mutual re-spect and tolerance where all staff and students can feelsafe valued and supportedrdquo
bull contribute to creating a positive environment where dis-criminatory practices and discrimination no longer hap-pen
Please review the UCLan Equality and Diversity Policy for fur-ther information
i
Contents
Preface iThis Document iStatements i
I Induction amp Orientation 1
1 Introduction 311 Headrsquos Welcome 3
2 Course Structure and Overview 521 Rationale and Aims 522 Enrolment and Induction 523 Tutors and Leads 524 The Academic Year 625 Modules 726 Time Table 727 Results 728 Progression 729 Further Information 8
3 Before You Arrive 931 Revision 932 Stationary 1033 Calculators 1034 Misc 11
4 Text Books 1341 Physics 1342 Mathematics 1343 Study Skills 14
5 Frequently Asked Questions 1551 Study Time 1552 Results and Progression 15
6 Student Finance 1761 Tuition Fees 1762 Living costs 1763 Additional Costs 1764 Student Finance 17
ii
Contents
II Course Operation 21
7 Communication 2371 Methods of Communication 2372 The Student Voice 2573 Course Representatives and School Presidents 2574 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC) 2675 Complaints 26
8 Teaching 2781 Expertise of Staff 2782 Teaching Methods 2783 Lectures 2784 Tutorials 2785 Teaching Spaces 2886 Study Support 2987 Learning Information Services 29
9 Assessment 3191 Assessment Principles 3192 Assessment Methods 3193 Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements 3194 Feedback 3295 Extensions and late submissions 3296 Quality Assurance 3397 Classification of Awards 3398 Extenuating Circumstances 3499 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP) 34910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation 35
10 Attendance and Engagement 37101 Attendance is Important 37102 Student Attendance Monitoring 37103 Procedure for non-engagement 38104 International Students 38105 Prolonged Absence 39
11 Student Support and Guidance 41111 Academic Advisers 41112 The lt i gt 41113 The Studentsrsquo Union 41114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties 41115 The Careers Service 42
12 Health And Well-Being 43121 Conduct 43122 Health and Safety 43123 Data Protection and Confidentiality 44124 Fitness to Study Procedure 44
A Physics FYE Programme Specification 45
B Engineering FYE Programme Specification 49
iii
Part I
Induction amp Orientation
1
Chapter 1
Introduction
11 Headrsquos Welcome
Welcome to the Schoolof Physical Sciences andComputing (PSC) andcongratulations on being ac-cepted on the programme
I am delighted that youhave chosen to enrol onthe Physics and Engineer-ing Foundation ProgrammeWe will endeavour to pro-vide you with an outstandingexperience of higher educa-tion by continuously improv-ing this course through your
feedback year on year We are aware that you have made adecision that affects your future career and we can assure youthat we will work hard to meet your aspirations However wealso expect that you will commit sufficient time and efforts toacquire and apply the knowledge and experience required tosucceed in your field of study
I trust that you will find your experience enjoyable and re-warding In the meantime if you have any queries or concernsI would advise you to contact your course leader at the earliestpossible opportunity
Dr Stewart EyresHead of School of Physical Sciences and ComputingTwitter astrostewey
3
Chapter 2
Course Structure and Overview
This Chapter covers the central concepts of Higher Educationand how they apply to this Course We start by looking at therational and aims of the course upon which you are enrolledbefore covering how the course is organised administrativelyand academically We then look at how you can access yourweekly time table the structure of the academic year and fi-nally at progressionmdashhow we manage transition into the nextyear of your studies
21 Rationale and Aims
A Foundation Year is the first year of a full time four-year Bachelor (BScBEng) or five-year integrated Masters(MPhysMEng) degree You will often find the Foundation Yearreferred to as ldquoYear Zerordquo as it comes before ldquoYear Onerdquo of theshorter versions of those degrees The aim of this year asdescribed in the Physics amp Engineering Programme Specifica-tions is to ldquosupply the necessary expertise and experiencerdquorequired for new students to enter a range of Physics or Engi-neering degrees when ldquothey do not already possess the nec-essary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do sordquo
The aims of this Year will be realised by providing you witha ldquobackground and experiencerdquo in physics and mathematicalmethods that is broadly equivalent to a student who has ful-filled the entry requirements (nominally A2 level in Physics ampMaths) The syllabus is designed to be comparable to A-LevelMaths and Physics albeit in a form that can be taught full-timeover 24 weeks
Table 21 lists the Degree Courses that are fed by thePhysicsEngineering Foundation Year These Degree Coursesare from two separate Schools the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing (PSC) and the School of Engineer-ing Both of these Schools are part of the College of Scienceand Technology This year is mainly taught by staff from theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI httpwwwstaruclanacuk) within the PSC The first column of Table 21 lists theDegree Title the second and third columns list the respectiveprogramme codes (unique idents used for paperwork) for therelevant FYE Bachelor and Masters Degrees
This particular Handbook covers the Foundation Year por-tion of your degrees Students should consult the Handbooksfor their individual degree courses for information about YearOne and later employment opportunities the degree accredi-tation and other matters relating to those professions Those
Handbooks will be available from the separate School areason eLearn Blackboard
22 Enrolment and Induction
There will be a Welcome Week prior to the start of teachingAll students are expected to attend the Welcome Week andthe InductionOrientation events that are arranged during thatweek It is important that students complete their online enrol-ment as early as possible
Please make sure you are issued with a UCLan StudentID Card and a University e-mail address You will need theID card to access the library prove your identity and to scanin (prove attendance) at all teaching events The e-mail ad-dress is your key to accessing almost all online material foryour course including teaching materials online assessmentnotices from the Administrative Hub and your electronic timetable
Please see the information in the Welcome e-mails from theAdmissions staff and the Check-list on the Welcome to UCLanwebpage During the Welcome Week help for almost all even-tualities is available from The lt i gt on the Ground Floor of theUCLan Library
23 Tutors and Leads
Whilst you are at UCLan it will be your Academic Adviserand the Year Tutor who deal with matters involving attendancemonitoring initial welfare counselling and programme adviceThey will usually be your first point of contact in many mattersThe role of the Academic Adviser is to act as a liaison betweenyourself and the University The Year Tutors coordinate mattersacross the Year The Year Tutor for Physics is Dr Jason Kirk(JMKirkuclanacuk) while the Year Tutor for Engineering isDr Stephen Kirkup (SMKirkupuclanacuk)
Columns 4 and 5 of Table 21 list the Course Leaders andAcademic Leads for each of the named Degree CoursesCourse Leaders coordinate matters including the delivery andassessment of modules across all years of specific DegreeCourses Academic Leads coordinate matters including aca-demic quality and discipline across a set of related subjectsYou may be referred to these Leads if matters are serious
5
2 COURSE STRUCTURE AND OVERVIEW
Table 21 Table of Foundation Entry Courses that are taught using some or all of the APC80x modules The first columnlists the course title The middle columns list the programme codes for the 4-year Bachelor (BScBEng) and 5-year Masters(MPhysMEngMMath) courses The final two columns list the Course Leader and relevant Academic Lead for each Course
FYE Course Title Y0 Programme Code Course Lead Academic Lead
Bachelor Masters
School of Physical Sciences amp Computing (Head Stew Eyres)
Applied Physics ULAPPH111 ULAPPH112 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Astrophysics ULASPH100 ULASPH111 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Physics With Astro ULPWAS111 ULPWAS112 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Physics ULPHCS100 ULPHCS111 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
School of Engineering (Dean Rob Wallace)
Aerospace Engineering ULAERO110 ULAERO111 Dominic Diston Martin Varley
Architectural Engineering ULAREN111 ULAREN110 Martin Varley
Building Services and SustainableEnergy Engineering
ULBSSE110 Martin Varley
Computer Aided Engineering ULCAEB110 ULCAEB111 Matt Dickinson Martin Varley
Electronic Engineering ULELEN110 ULELEN111 Stephen Sigurnjak Martin Varley
Energy Engineering ULENER110 ULENER111 Martin Varley
Fire Engineering ULFIRE110 ULFIRE111 Martin Varley
Mechanical Engineering ULMECH110 ULMECH111 Justin Whitty Martin Varley
Motor Sports Engineering ULMSEN110 ULMSEN111 Graham Calderbank Martin Varley
Oil and Gas Safety Engineering Martin Varley
Robotics Engineering ULROBO110 ULROBO111 Stephen Mein Martin Varley
Table 22 Table of Administrative Details for each School
Subject E-Mail Address Location
PhysicsAstronomy Fosterhubuclanacuk Foster Admin Hub
Engineering mdash mdash
enough Do not underestimate this escalation as it can andwill result in withdrawal where necessary
From time to time you will be asked to communicate withthe Campus Administrative Service This is the administrationservice that deals with the academic paperwork for the Col-lege Campus Administrative Services are divided into a setof large Hubs that are distributed across the Preston campusTable 22 lists the locations dedicated e-mail addresses
24 The Academic Year
The Academic Year runs from September to August and is di-vided into overlapping terms and semesters Key dates for the2015-16 Academic Year are reproduced in Table 23 Termsare continuous periods of teaching between the major va-cations and are mainly are used for financial matters (figur-
ing maintenance loan payments student fees etc) Term 1runs from the Welcome Week until Christmas Term 2 runsfrom Christmas until Easter and Term 3 runs after EasterSemesters are used for academic matters (modules teachingand examinations) They normally conclude with dedicatedweeks for revision and examinations Semester One runs fromthe Welcome Week until the January exams Semester Tworuns from the end of January until the main May exams All un-dergraduate teaching is contained within Semesters One andTwo Semester Three runs over the summer and is not usedfor undergraduate teaching
All students must attend from the start of induction for theiryear group up to the end of the exams held during the Univer-sityrsquos Central Examination Weeks The exact usage of eachweek by the Teaching Team is specified in the AssessmentSchedule (available on eLearn Blackboard) If you need re-
6
26 Time Table
Table 23 Table of key dates in the 2015-16 AcademicCalendar See the Academic Year webpages (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyacademic_calendarphp)for a fuller breakdown and printable year chart
Date Event
14 Sep 2015 Welcome WeekTerm 1 begins
21 Sep 2015 Semester 1Teaching begins
11 Dec 2015 Term 1 ends
14 Dec 2015 Semester break begins
1 Jan 2016 Semester break ends
4 Jan 2016 Term 2 begins
22 Jan 2016 Semester 1 ends
25 Jan 2016 Semester 2 begins
18 Mar 2016 Term 2 ends
4 Apr 2016 Term 3 begins
20 May 2016 Semester 2Term 3 ends
23 May 2016 Semester 3 begins
26 Aug 2016 Semester 3 ends
assessment it is your responsibility to ensure that you are ableto meet the coursework reassessment deadline set (normallyin the third week of August) and that you are available to attendfor any summer resit examinations Absence due to a familyholiday or similar cause is not accepted as a reason for notattending resits or examinations at any time
25 Modules
The taught material on University courses is divided into Mod-ules discrete learning blocks that are led by a named ModuleLeader Other tutors may lecture or provide tutorial supportbut it is the module leader who is responsible for the assess-ment and content of that module Each module counts for adifferent number of credits Full time study counts as a collec-tion of modules that add up to a total of 120 credits For thiscourse each module counts for 20 credits
The list of modules for this Year can be found in Table 24A complete list of UCLan modules can be found in the OnlineModule Catalogue The list of modules you will study in lateryears can be found in the Course Handbooks for your individ-ual degree courses
Modules will differ in their pattern of assessment but theeventual result with be a percentage grade between 0 and100 A module is considered as ldquopassedrdquo if your grade init is greater than or equal to 40 The credits are only countedif the module is passed at the aforementioned 40 level
Taught material on the course is divided equally betweenphysics and mathematics All students on the Course will takethe same set of three physics modules (APC801 802 and803) These run for the full duration of the year The math-ematics modules are split into two sets Most students will
take the three APC mathematics modules (APC804 5 and 6)these contain equivalent material as A-Level Maths Core 1-4APC804 runs for the first half of the course while APC805 runsfor the second half
If a student has a particular interest in doing a ldquofree-choiceelectiverdquo such as a language as a seventh module it may bepossible for this to be studied as a University Certificate along-side the main course This should be discussed with your Aca-demic Adviser because of the workload implications
26 Time Table
The University uses a single online time tabling system Youwill be able to access your personalised time table via the Stu-dent Portal The online timetable will be updated for roomchanges cancellations and other changes and should bechecked every day for the latest information Changes to thetimetable will be pushed out to the online time table This syn-chronises with the monitors that are outside of each teachingroom and the larger screens that are at the main entrance toeach building
The Foundation Year provides a mix of teaching methodssuch as lectures laboratory work tutorials and seminars Astudent may expect an average of 18 hours per week of con-tact time A typical year-long lecture module has an averageof 3 hours per week of contact time Note that depending oncohort size students may be allocated into pairs or groups forthe laboratory work or tutorials You must attend the tutorial orlab at the time allocated to your group and you cannot changewithout prior permission from the module tutor
Occasionally students will be required to attend rearrangedclasses or extra tutorials at times or on days when they donot normally have classes Students should not commit them-selves to part time jobs that conflict with the academic require-ments of their course Wednesday afternoons are traditionallyleft unscheduled at British Universities to allow for undergrad-uate sporting fixtures and social events
27 Results
Module results are released on myUCLan Final modulemarks are released after the end of Semester 2 on the lastMonday of June In 2016 this is the 27th of June
28 Progression
Progression is the process whereby a student satisfactorilycompletes one year of study and progresses on to the nextyear of their course Discussions about your progressionthrough the course normally take place in February each yearIt is an opportunity for you to make plans for your study overthe next academic year The Course Team will tell you aboutthe various modules combinations available and you will bothagree on the most appropriate (and legal) course of study foryou
All modules must be passed in order for a student toprogress The Foundation Year is designed to provide you withthe minimum required knowledge of physics and mathematics
7
2 COURSE STRUCTURE AND OVERVIEW
Table 24 Available modules on the PhysicsEngineering Foundation Year Column 1 lists the module code column 2 lists themodule title The last column lists whether the module is taught in a single semester or in both semesters (Year Long)
Module Code Module Title Delivery
APC801 Introduction to University Physics Year Long
APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields Year Long
APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics Year Long
APC804 Mathematical Methods Semester One
APC805 Further Mathematical Methods Semester Two
APC806 Graphs and Vectors Year Long
to be able to enter the BScBEng programmes Therefore sim-ply passing all modules at 40 will not adequately prepare youfor student in the first year of the degree programme
281 Progression Criteria
In order to ensure a student can cope with the academic con-tent in Year 1 it has been determined that the following pro-gression criteria will apply
Automatic Admission
Physics Year One 120 credits and an average percentagemark (APM) of at least 60 across all modules allowsthe option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of thePhysicsAstrophysics degree programmes
Engineering Year One 120 credits and an average percent-age mark (APM) of at least 50 across all modules al-lows option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of theEngineering degree programmes
Discretionary Admission
The Course Assessment Boards will consider students for ad-mission with 120 credits and with an APM that is up to 10points below the APM for their respective course (ie 50for Physics 40 for Engineering) Students may be asked toundertake reassessment designed to raise their APM to a levelrequested by the Course Board
Alternative Admission
Students who achieve 120 credits and an APM of at least 40and who are not admitted to a PhysicsEngineering degreemay be offered admission to another degree programme atthe University of Central Lancashire
29 Further Information
291 UCLan Official Web-pages
The following are a few of the public facing UCLan webpagesthat might be useful to you
bull Welcome to UCLan (httpwwwuclanacukstudentsstudynewphp) This is the Welcome pageon uclanacuk that all new students are directed tobefore they arrive This will include check-lists of thingsto do before and during your Welcome here
bull Guide to Student Regulations (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsliferules_regsphp) This page in-cludes the Regulations for the Conduct of Students
bull Academic Regulations (httpwwwuclanacukaqasuacademic_regulationsphp) This page in-cludes the most up to date copies of both the UCLanAcademic Regulations which state how courses andmodules are regulated and the Assessment Handbookwhich details the principles under which assessment isconducted
bull Student Support (httpswwwuclanacukstudents) The central hub for Student Supportwebpages at UCLan Including advise on student lifehealth amp well-being finances study issues and muchmore
bull Academic Calendar (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyacademic_calendarphp) This pagecontains the most up to date version of the UCLanAcademic Calendar
Most student information including the teaching material oneLearn Blackboard and the sources above can be accessedfrom the Student Portal (httpsportaluclanacuk) us-ing your UCLan e-mail user-name and password Additionallystudents can review their enrolment personal details and aca-demic record via the myUCLan online service
292 Independent Sources
bull UCLan SU (httpwwwuclansucouk) The websiteof UCLanrsquos Student Union The Union is able to offer trulyindependent advice to you as it is controlled by the Stu-dent Body not by the University itself
bull Pluto (httppluto-onlinecom) Pluto is the Inde-pendent UCLan Student Newspaper It contains newsstories about Student Life both here and around the coun-try
8
Chapter 3
Before You Arrive
In this chapter we look at the things you bring to Universityndash ideally things you should know and things you should haveprocured You may have received a leaflet and letter aboutmathematics preparation after you accepted the offer to studyon this Course The revision section below replicates the rec-ommendations and resources from that leaflet After that welook at the basic stationary that you will need for your Courseand describe the type of calculator you should have
31 Revision
311 Necessary Skills
Mathematics is a key skill that you will have to develop duringyour time on the Course and it is vitally important that you areup to speed with the full range of GCSE (including Intermedi-ate and Higher tier) Mathematics before you start
Skills and topics that you should ideally be comfortable withinclude
Basic numeracy Including the use of directed (negative)numbers fractions (adding multiplying etc) surds in-dices order of operations highest common factors per-centages significant figures ratios etc
Algebra You should be able to manipulate basic algebraicequations including factorizing of simple quadratics mak-ing a quantity the subject of a formula repeating normalnumerical actions (multiplication factions indices factor-izing) with algebra
Trigonometry The area and angles of a triangle applicationof sine cosine and tangent simple vectors and vectoraddition
Graphs Plotting an xy graph how the equation y = mx +c relates to a straight line how algebraic equations(quadratics etc) can be plotted on such a graph
We will be testing these in the diagnostic test during WelcomeWeek and will offer some remedial help at the start of termHowever your entry into University will be a lot more fun andless stressful if you have got this sorted before you turn up
312 Revision Resources
There are two main resources that we recommend for appli-cants who are having to bring their mathematical skills up tothe level described above The first is a textbook that ac-companies a standalone qualification called the ldquoFoundationsof Mathematicsrdquo and the second is a free website called theldquoKhan Academyrdquo
Foundations of Advanced Mathematics 2nd Edition
This book is the best possible benchmark for the mathematicselement at the start of this course If you revise and practiceeverything contained in this book you will be well equipped totackle the material at the start of the Foundation Year It willget harder but this will give you an excellent head start
This book accompanies a standalone qualification that is de-signed to take a student from intermediate tier GCSE to thestart of AS Level maths While we do not recommend youtake the actual qualification the revision and teaching materi-als available for it are recommended You may also find thesematerials useful if you are studying mathematics for a currentnon-A Level qualification
Full Reference David Snell et al (2003) Foundations ofAdvanced Mathematics 2nd ed London Hodder EducationISBN 9780340869260
Khan Academy
wwwkhanacademyorgThis website is a good online study resource It was put to-
gether by Salman Khan a former hedge fund analyst who re-alized that there was no good free resource for people wantingto learn mathematics The Academy works on a challenge-and-response principle As you attempt problems it noticeswhere you are succeeding and failing and shows you morechallenging material or additional tutorials as necessary
You can spend as little or as much time on there as youwish mdash either to brush up a skill or as the main focus of yourrevision You may even find its format addictive For thosewanting to use the Academy as their main revision route wewould suggest that you take either of the following subjects
The World of Math This gives a broad overview of mathe-matics and includes elementary material where neces-sary wwwkhanacademyorgmath
9
3 BEFORE YOU ARRIVE
Algebra Basics This is a set of materials specifically put to-gether in preparation for US university entrance examswwwkhanacademyorgmathalgebra-basics
313 Additional Resources
There are several additional resources that may be useful toyou Some are free some are not
Bridging GCSE and A-Level Maths by Mark RowlandPublished by Collins ISBN 978-0-00-741023-1 Thisbook covers what you should know from GCSE andindicates where that will lead to at A Level It is about 160pages long with 80 pages of examples and referencesfollowed by 80 pages of problems This may not be souseful if you are too rusty on the GCSE parts
GCSE to A level Jump wwwm4thscomindexphpp=1_12 This website discusses the transition to A-Leveland includes links to several useful resources Werecommend you have a look at the self-audit sheets asthese give good examples of what yoursquoll be facing onyour course
Step UP To A-Level Maths wwwcimtplymouthacukprojectsmepresstep-updefaulthtm This websitelists the skills yoursquoll need to study maths at A-Level andalso includes chapters from a GCSE textbook
Maths Centre wwwmathcentreacuk This site deliverssupport materials (videos and PDF worksheets) free ofcharge to students lecturers and everyone looking forpost-16 maths help
The Jump wwwm4thscomgcse-to-a-level-bridgehtml This is a series of videos that were prepared byM4ths founder Steve Blades There are 30 videos intotal and the first 20 are on YouTube and are linked tofrom Steversquos website
YouTube You will find that there are a lot of helpful videos onYouTube If you get stuck on a topic try a YouTube searchand yoursquoll usually find videos from high school teachersand sometimes university lecturers who have put theirlessons online
32 Stationary
Supplying basic day-to-day style equipment such as pens pa-per and calculators is a studentrsquos responsibility How studentsorganize their work can be highly individualistic Neverthelessit is recommended that all students invest in some basic sta-tionary and something that will allow them to organize the sur-prisingly large amount of paper that will be generated duringtheir studies
The following should be considered as the minimum recom-mended set of equipment
Pens Always make sure that you have got at least one sparepen with youmdashespecially in exams Just as in school weask that students use either blue or black ink during as-sessment Red ink is usually reserved for marking greenink for moderation
Pencil eraser pencil sharpener The received wisdom isthat students use pen for writing and pencil for everythingelse (sketching graphs drawing diagrams etc)
Paper Students have to supply their own paper However theUniversity will provide paper in exams Do not be afraidof using a lot of paper and do not cram too much writingonto a single sheet It is often useful to be able to addnotes or annotations around whatever you have written
Filing You generally have two options here You can eitheruse bound notebooksmdashone per subjectmdashor you can fileloose paper in a binder Both techniques allows you toseparate your notes into different topicslectures
Ruler You will have to draw graphs and diagrams It is veryprobable that you are not Leonard Da Vinci and thus can-not draw an immaculate line free hand Thus a ruler willbe essential
Stapler (and staples)paper clips Something to keep yourlose papers together when they are not in your filing sys-tem Pages of an assignment should always be attachedtogethermdashit is your responsibility to make sure that sub-mitted assignments are in a condition where pages can-not become separated (quite easy when everybodyrsquoswork is piled together)
33 Calculators
In time you will learn to estimate the answers to most calcu-lations on the ldquoback of an enveloperdquo However until then youwill need to use a calculator or app It should be able to handlebasic trigonometry functions (sin cos tan) and their inversespowers (x2
radicx xy) logarithms (base 10 and natural) sci-
entific notation and the ability to work in radians as well asdegrees
If you studied A-Level Maths the calculator you had for thatwill be adequate Good calculator apps are also available onmost computer and mobile phone platforms (eg RealCalc onAndroid Applersquos Calculator for OS X and iOS Windows Cal-culator etc) However phone apps cannot be used in examsand some lecturers may object to you having your phone outin tutorials
We do not prescribe which type of calculator you should useoutside of exam times However you should avoid models thatare too advanced as you will not be able to take them intoexams (see below) A calculator is merely a tool that speedsup a process it will avail you little if you do not first understandthat process It is your responsibility to know how to use yourown calculator
Calculators will be allowed in some exams and youshould bring one to those exams Mobile phones and theirapps are not allowed in exam halls Calculators may not beallowed in some exams particularly those focusing on puremathematics You should check with the Module Leader asto whether a calculator is allowed in the examination for theirModule
Misuse of a calculator is counted as cheating (Unfair Means)under the Exam Regulations A Foundation Year is taught atLevel 3 the same as A-Level we therefore adopt the guideline
10
34 Misc
similar to of the Joint Council for Qualifications1 (the industrybody that represents the A-Level exam boards)
Specifically that in examinations calculators
bull Must not include these functions
ndash Language translators
ndash Symbolic algebra manipulation
ndash Symbolic differentiation or integration
ndash Graphical plotting
ndash Connect to the internet or other machines
bull Must not include retrievable information (eg mathemati-cal formulae text etc)
bull Any programmable memory must be erasable and shouldbe erased prior to the start of any exam
Notes
bull Standard calculator memory is allowed (the standard MMR M+ functions but this must be empty before anyexam begins)
bull Physical constants and unit conversion are allowed solong as those constants and conversions are not user pro-grammable
bull For reference the CASIO FX-85GT Plus is the defaultcalculator that students on our maths degree have in thepast been issued with
34 Misc
bull Carrying stuff around in your bag or rucksack will result init getting batteredmdashbinders become worn holes in paperbecome pulled rulers become chipped Think about thisin advance Possibly leave the full binder in your accom-modation and use card folders to protect notes in transitbefore you file them in the evening Keep your ruler in thesheath that it came in Use a pencil case to keep loosepens pencils etc together
bull There are several stationary shops in town including WHSmiths Staples and Rymans However shop aroundmdashsome shops are decidedly cheaper than others We arescientists and engineers itrsquos functionality that mattersnot style
1As specified in Section 3 of the 2014-15 rsquoICErsquo (Instructions for conductingexaminations)
11
Chapter 4
Text Books
In this Chapter we run down the Course Texts for this Courseand look at other books that might be of relevance Please donot buy the Course Texts yourself These will be distributed toyou upon arrival (the cost is included in your fees)
Any A-Level Physics andor A-Level Maths text book will beuseful to you so bring any existing MathsPhysics books withyou The following Sections also include details of a few othertext books that students might find useful
41 Physics
411 Course Text Introduction to Physics
Introduction to Physics is a full-colour textbook that is linked toa website system called WileyPlus through which you can ac-cess additional resources and a full electronic text of the bookWe will be using WileyPlus as a means of setting assignmentsand homeworks based on material from the Course Text Thisis the book you will be given upon arrival
Full reference John D Cutnell et al (2015) Introduction toPhysics International Student Version 10th ed New JerseyJohn Wiley amp Sons ISBN 9781118651520
412 Additional Texts
bull Jim Breithaupt (2015) Physics 4th ed Basingstoke Pal-grave MacMillan ISBN 9781137443236
bull Gareth Kelly and Nigel Wood (2013) Mathematics for ALevel Physics A Course Companion Cheltenham Illu-minate Publishing
bull Roger Muncaster (1993) A-Level Physics 4th ed Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9780748715848
bull Carol Tear (2013) Maths Skills for A Level Physics Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9781408521205
Breithhauptrsquos Physics is a comparable physics text to Cutnellamp Johnson albeit more compact Muncasterrsquos A-Level Physicsremains a favourite among many A-Level Physics teachersand FE lecturers It can appear rather old school but it is clearprecise and waffle free Muncaster is a text that rewards stu-dents who are willing to study hard The two maths skills books(Kelly amp Woood and Tear) have been written to accompany themathematics that arise in A-Level equivalent Physics The fo-cus here is on the use of maths to solve Physics problemsmore than is on maths for the sake of maths These may beuseful to students who struggle with the application of mathe-matics to physics
42 Mathematics
421 Course Text Foundation Mathematics
Foundation Mathematics is an online only text that is accessi-ble via WileyPlus We will be using WileyPlus as a means ofsetting assignments and homeworks based on material fromthe Course Text Please be aware that a Browser pluging (Wol-framrsquos CDF player) may be necessary to access some contentfrom the bookmdashthese are illustrative applets only and will notimpact upon assessment This is the book you will be givenupon arrival
Full reference Colin Steele et al (2015) Foundation Math-ematics 1st ed New Jersey John Wiley amp Sons ISBN9781118500507
13
4 TEXT BOOKS
422 Additional Texts
bull David Snell et al (2003) Foundations of Advanced Math-ematics 2nd ed London Hodder Education ISBN9780340869260
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2004) Core 1 and 2for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548960
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2005) Core 3 and 4for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548977
Snell et al is an introductory textbook that covers maths ma-terial that spans intermediate-Tier GCSE Maths up to and in-cluding some material from AS-Level Mathematics This wasthe book we recommended for students who have done littleor no A-Level Mathematics before they arrived The Quadlingand Neill textbooks accompany the OCRrsquos A-Level Mathemat-ics We will be covering comparable material in our Mathe-matics Modules Students who take the advanced MAC mathsmodules will be supplied with these books if necessary
43 Study Skills
We will integrate general study skills into our Physics teachinghighlighting where certain skills are important and showcasinghow you can learn more To support this we have chosen agood all round study guide (listed below) as the Course TextThis will be given to you when you arrive at UCLan
Nevertheless there are other books available (including anextensive range from Palgrave) These may be of interest tostudents who know that they have faced study problems in thepast or who are new to studying in a more academic and lessvocational manner
431 Course Text Study Skills For ScienceEngineering amp Technology Students
Itrsquos blurb describes it as an ldquoaccessible student-friendly hand-book that covers all of the essential study skills that will ensureyou get the most out of your Science Engineering or Technol-ogy courserdquo A good all round book that covers academic andpersonal skills We will be using sections from this book as thebasis for some of your skills sessions This is the book you willbe given upon arrival
Full reference Pat Maier Anna Barney and Geraldine Price(2009) Study Skills for Science Engineering and TechnologyStudents Harlow Pearson ISBN 9780273720737
432 Additional Texts
bull Stella Cottrell (2013) The Study Skills Handbook 4th edBasingstroke Palgrave MacMillan ISBN 978113728925
bull David Sands (2004) Studying Physics BasingstrokePalgrave MacMillan ISBN 9781403903280
Stellar Cottrell has established herself as one of the leadingauthors in the field of Study Skills and The Study Skills Hand-book is her flagship volume It contains a lot of practical guidesand information about how to successfully manage your stud-ies Studying Physics describes itself as ldquoa unique guide tothe essential skills in physics you need to acquire by the timeyou graduaterdquo Although this book comes under the PalgraveStudy Skills banner it is really more of an academic text thanmany other Study Skills books It focuses more towards beinga reference text than a self-help one
14
Chapter 5
Frequently Asked Questions
51 Study Time
How much work should I do Courses at UCLan are de-signed with the expectation that students can achieve a suc-cessful result by studying for 10 hours for each credit they needto achieve This includes attendance at UCLan and time spentin private study
Your modules are all worth 20 credits so you should ex-pect to do a minimum of 200 study hours for each of themThat 200-hours contains 3 hours per week of class contacttime (approximately 70 hours) The remaining will be under-taken by you as self-study support work in readiness for theclasses and assessment time The module descriptors (avail-able on eLearn) include an indicative breakdown of how thestudy time may be divided between various activities suchas reviewing lectures trying practice questions and attempt-ing assessments
Do not underestimate the amount of work you need to do toachieve your potential As a rough guide there are about 31weeks in the teaching year (24 in-class weeks 2-3 revisionsweeks amp 4 exam weeks) Six modules at 200 hours per mod-ule equals 1200 hours Spread out over those 31 weeks thisequates to about 39 hours a week ie the same hours as afull time job
Why am I having to work harder do less work than myfriends You may find yourselves having to work harder andput in more hours than some of your friends This is perfectlynatural and is a by-product of your individual experiences
Students who have done either maths or physics A-Levelmdashyou will have sat one or both of these before So even if youdid not get a high grade or only did one of the two you willstill have seen some of this material before That means youmay find yourself having to do less work and put in fewer hoursthan some of your friends Do not become smug There arestill plenty of ways to fail and over-confidence will be the routeto many of them
For a former PhysicsMaths A-Level student the route tosuccess is to use this year productively and to repair problemsthat occurred during your A-Levels Maintain your studies Ifyou slack-off your skills will become unpracticed and you willbe knocked sideways once we get to the really difficult materialin Semester Two
Everybody elsemdashthe disadvantage that you face is that youwill not have seen as much of the material as the former A-Level students Nevertheless some of our best students wereBTEC students who committed themselves from the outsetand ended-up with higher grades than most A-Level students
Ultimately you are trying to learn in one year what it takesmost students two-years to learn The only way for you to suc-ceed is to embrace that challenge
52 Results and Progression
Do I get a separate certificate or qualification for complet-ing the Foundation Year No the Foundation Year is onlythe first year of a longer degree The qualification is that finaldegree certificate
Does the Foundation Year count towards my degreeaward No your average mark for the Foundation Year willonly determine whether you progress to Year One
Will I get a transcript of my results A Transcript lists themodules undertaken credit value and grades achieved duringeach academic session of study The overall result obtainedwill also be indicated You will receive a transcript upon thesuccessful completion of your programme of study
That means you will not automatically receive a paper tran-script at the end of the Foundation Year as your course (thefull degree) has not yet finished Your official module resultsthose accepted by the Assessment Boards will be availableon myUCLan
Please see the Certificates and Awards webpage formore information You may wish to contact Awardcere-moniesuclanacuk if you have a particular need for a papertranscript
I think Irsquom going to fail what should I do We cannot es-cape the unfortunate fact that not every student on this yearwill progress onto Year One of their chosen degree There areacademic standards for progression (the move from one yearof study to the next) that you must meet Failure to meet thosegrades may result in you having to change to a different courseor potentially leave University after only one year
15
5 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Doing well in these skills is merely a measurement of a sin-gle aptitude It is never a measurement of a personrsquos worth ortheir potential in a different field it may just be that your ap-titudes lie elsewhere Struggling against something that youmay not be suited to can in some circumstances lead to anxi-ety and depression
Please do not be frightened in confronting this before theend of the course Your academic adviser can offer guidancethe student support service has a confidential Counseling Ser-vice for anybody feeling overwhelmed and UCLanrsquos careersservices can all help you evaluate the larger picture
16
Chapter 6
Student Finance
In this chapter we look at how your fees will be used and pro-vide guidelines for typical living costs for students in Preston
61 Tuition Fees
Your tuition fees include
bull Scheduled course tuition academic technical and ad-ministrative support use of course equipment and facil-ities
bull Course related induction activities
bull Placement year academic support (where the course in-cludes a placement year)
bull Course assessment and awards
bull Access to the universityrsquos library and online resourcesincluding on-campus wifi networked and remote accessto the universityrsquos virtual learning environment
bull Use of the universityrsquos estate and resources for scheduledactivities and learning support
bull Dissertation project andor thesis printing and bindingwhere the submission of printed and bound documentsis a requirement for assessment of the module
bull Use of the universityrsquos technical equipment and materialsidentified by the course teaching team as essential for thecompletion of the course
bull The extra items listed against your course in Table 61below
62 Living costs
Living costs are not included in your tuition fees You will needto budget for these separately Table 62 includes an indicationof some typical living costs but everyone is different and youare strongly advised to plan your own budget
You may also need to budget for ldquoone offrdquo or irregular costsTable 63 contains a representative list
63 Additional Costs
There are some costs that may be incurred by some but not allstudents and are not included within the Tuition Fees Theseare listed in Table 64
64 Student Finance
If you are dealing with agencies like Student Finance pleaseremember to tell them the full duration of your course TheFoundation Year adds an additional year to the BScBEng de-grees and MPhysMEng degrees making them 4-years and 5-years long respectively
UCLanrsquos Student Finance Support Team are available to ad-vise you on any problems and can provide short term emer-gency loans in some cases
17
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 61 Table of items included in Student Fees
Course Additional items included in the tuition fees for yourcourse
Foundation Year for Courses covered by this Hand-book
Compulsory text books (see Chapter 4)
BSc (Hons) Robotics EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering
IET Membership
BSc (Hons) Physics years 1 2 and 3 Frontier Education events
BSc (Hons) Motorsports Engineering years 1 2 and 3 Imech E Student RegistrationFormula Student
MPhys (Hons) AstrophysicsBEng (Hons) Computer Aided EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic EngineeringBSc (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringBSc (Hons) Motorsports EngineeringBSc (Hons) PhysicsBSc (Hons) Robotics Engineering
Compulsory text books in year one
18
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Preface
This Document
Purpose
This handbook is intended to be a practical source of informa-tion on the academic and administrative aspects of the courseYou will find information on the course operation managementand the assessment regulations The structure and content ofthe course is described together with the assessment strate-gies
Read this handbook carefully and make sure that you un-derstand what is required of you You should also consultthe individual Handbooks for your separate degree coursesShould there be points which you do not understand or wish todiscuss further do not hesitate to contact the Course LeaderYear Tutor or any of your Module Tutors
The canonical online version of this document is kept onthe PhysicsEngineering Foundation Year space on the UCLaneLearn Blackboard system (httpsportaluclanacuk)Please contact Jason Kirk (JMKirkuclanacuk) if you spotany mistake or omissions from this Guide
Copyright Notice
All course materials including lecture notes and other addi-tional materials related to your course and provided to youwhether electronically or in hard copy as part of your studyare the property of (or licensed to) UCLan and MUST not bedistributed sold published made available to others or copiedother than for your personal study use unless you have gainedwritten permission to do so from the Dean of School This ap-plies to the materials in their entirety and to any part of thematerials
Statements
UCLan Mission Statement
bull WE PROMOTE ACCESS TO EXCELLENCE ENABLINGYOU TO DEVELOP YOUR POTENTIAL
bull We value and practise equality of opportunity trans-parency and tolerance
bull We strive for excellence in all we do locally regionallynationally and internationally
bull We work in partnership with business the community andother educators
bull We encourage and promote research innovation and cre-ativity
Student Charter
The Student Charter has been developed by the University andthe Studentsrsquo Union so that students gain the maximum fromtheir UCLan experience It is a two-way commitment or lsquocon-tractrsquo between the University and each individual student Itacts as a means of establishing in black and white what stu-dents can expect from the University and the Union in termsof support and in return what we expect from our studentsRead the full Student Charter
Supporting Diversity at UCLan
UCLan recognises and values individual difference and hasa public duty to promote equality and remove discriminationin relation to race gender disability religion or belief sexualorientation and age During your time at UCLan we expect youto be able to
bull experience ldquoan integrated community based on mutual re-spect and tolerance where all staff and students can feelsafe valued and supportedrdquo
bull contribute to creating a positive environment where dis-criminatory practices and discrimination no longer hap-pen
Please review the UCLan Equality and Diversity Policy for fur-ther information
i
Contents
Preface iThis Document iStatements i
I Induction amp Orientation 1
1 Introduction 311 Headrsquos Welcome 3
2 Course Structure and Overview 521 Rationale and Aims 522 Enrolment and Induction 523 Tutors and Leads 524 The Academic Year 625 Modules 726 Time Table 727 Results 728 Progression 729 Further Information 8
3 Before You Arrive 931 Revision 932 Stationary 1033 Calculators 1034 Misc 11
4 Text Books 1341 Physics 1342 Mathematics 1343 Study Skills 14
5 Frequently Asked Questions 1551 Study Time 1552 Results and Progression 15
6 Student Finance 1761 Tuition Fees 1762 Living costs 1763 Additional Costs 1764 Student Finance 17
ii
Contents
II Course Operation 21
7 Communication 2371 Methods of Communication 2372 The Student Voice 2573 Course Representatives and School Presidents 2574 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC) 2675 Complaints 26
8 Teaching 2781 Expertise of Staff 2782 Teaching Methods 2783 Lectures 2784 Tutorials 2785 Teaching Spaces 2886 Study Support 2987 Learning Information Services 29
9 Assessment 3191 Assessment Principles 3192 Assessment Methods 3193 Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements 3194 Feedback 3295 Extensions and late submissions 3296 Quality Assurance 3397 Classification of Awards 3398 Extenuating Circumstances 3499 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP) 34910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation 35
10 Attendance and Engagement 37101 Attendance is Important 37102 Student Attendance Monitoring 37103 Procedure for non-engagement 38104 International Students 38105 Prolonged Absence 39
11 Student Support and Guidance 41111 Academic Advisers 41112 The lt i gt 41113 The Studentsrsquo Union 41114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties 41115 The Careers Service 42
12 Health And Well-Being 43121 Conduct 43122 Health and Safety 43123 Data Protection and Confidentiality 44124 Fitness to Study Procedure 44
A Physics FYE Programme Specification 45
B Engineering FYE Programme Specification 49
iii
Part I
Induction amp Orientation
1
Chapter 1
Introduction
11 Headrsquos Welcome
Welcome to the Schoolof Physical Sciences andComputing (PSC) andcongratulations on being ac-cepted on the programme
I am delighted that youhave chosen to enrol onthe Physics and Engineer-ing Foundation ProgrammeWe will endeavour to pro-vide you with an outstandingexperience of higher educa-tion by continuously improv-ing this course through your
feedback year on year We are aware that you have made adecision that affects your future career and we can assure youthat we will work hard to meet your aspirations However wealso expect that you will commit sufficient time and efforts toacquire and apply the knowledge and experience required tosucceed in your field of study
I trust that you will find your experience enjoyable and re-warding In the meantime if you have any queries or concernsI would advise you to contact your course leader at the earliestpossible opportunity
Dr Stewart EyresHead of School of Physical Sciences and ComputingTwitter astrostewey
3
Chapter 2
Course Structure and Overview
This Chapter covers the central concepts of Higher Educationand how they apply to this Course We start by looking at therational and aims of the course upon which you are enrolledbefore covering how the course is organised administrativelyand academically We then look at how you can access yourweekly time table the structure of the academic year and fi-nally at progressionmdashhow we manage transition into the nextyear of your studies
21 Rationale and Aims
A Foundation Year is the first year of a full time four-year Bachelor (BScBEng) or five-year integrated Masters(MPhysMEng) degree You will often find the Foundation Yearreferred to as ldquoYear Zerordquo as it comes before ldquoYear Onerdquo of theshorter versions of those degrees The aim of this year asdescribed in the Physics amp Engineering Programme Specifica-tions is to ldquosupply the necessary expertise and experiencerdquorequired for new students to enter a range of Physics or Engi-neering degrees when ldquothey do not already possess the nec-essary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do sordquo
The aims of this Year will be realised by providing you witha ldquobackground and experiencerdquo in physics and mathematicalmethods that is broadly equivalent to a student who has ful-filled the entry requirements (nominally A2 level in Physics ampMaths) The syllabus is designed to be comparable to A-LevelMaths and Physics albeit in a form that can be taught full-timeover 24 weeks
Table 21 lists the Degree Courses that are fed by thePhysicsEngineering Foundation Year These Degree Coursesare from two separate Schools the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing (PSC) and the School of Engineer-ing Both of these Schools are part of the College of Scienceand Technology This year is mainly taught by staff from theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI httpwwwstaruclanacuk) within the PSC The first column of Table 21 lists theDegree Title the second and third columns list the respectiveprogramme codes (unique idents used for paperwork) for therelevant FYE Bachelor and Masters Degrees
This particular Handbook covers the Foundation Year por-tion of your degrees Students should consult the Handbooksfor their individual degree courses for information about YearOne and later employment opportunities the degree accredi-tation and other matters relating to those professions Those
Handbooks will be available from the separate School areason eLearn Blackboard
22 Enrolment and Induction
There will be a Welcome Week prior to the start of teachingAll students are expected to attend the Welcome Week andthe InductionOrientation events that are arranged during thatweek It is important that students complete their online enrol-ment as early as possible
Please make sure you are issued with a UCLan StudentID Card and a University e-mail address You will need theID card to access the library prove your identity and to scanin (prove attendance) at all teaching events The e-mail ad-dress is your key to accessing almost all online material foryour course including teaching materials online assessmentnotices from the Administrative Hub and your electronic timetable
Please see the information in the Welcome e-mails from theAdmissions staff and the Check-list on the Welcome to UCLanwebpage During the Welcome Week help for almost all even-tualities is available from The lt i gt on the Ground Floor of theUCLan Library
23 Tutors and Leads
Whilst you are at UCLan it will be your Academic Adviserand the Year Tutor who deal with matters involving attendancemonitoring initial welfare counselling and programme adviceThey will usually be your first point of contact in many mattersThe role of the Academic Adviser is to act as a liaison betweenyourself and the University The Year Tutors coordinate mattersacross the Year The Year Tutor for Physics is Dr Jason Kirk(JMKirkuclanacuk) while the Year Tutor for Engineering isDr Stephen Kirkup (SMKirkupuclanacuk)
Columns 4 and 5 of Table 21 list the Course Leaders andAcademic Leads for each of the named Degree CoursesCourse Leaders coordinate matters including the delivery andassessment of modules across all years of specific DegreeCourses Academic Leads coordinate matters including aca-demic quality and discipline across a set of related subjectsYou may be referred to these Leads if matters are serious
5
2 COURSE STRUCTURE AND OVERVIEW
Table 21 Table of Foundation Entry Courses that are taught using some or all of the APC80x modules The first columnlists the course title The middle columns list the programme codes for the 4-year Bachelor (BScBEng) and 5-year Masters(MPhysMEngMMath) courses The final two columns list the Course Leader and relevant Academic Lead for each Course
FYE Course Title Y0 Programme Code Course Lead Academic Lead
Bachelor Masters
School of Physical Sciences amp Computing (Head Stew Eyres)
Applied Physics ULAPPH111 ULAPPH112 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Astrophysics ULASPH100 ULASPH111 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Physics With Astro ULPWAS111 ULPWAS112 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Physics ULPHCS100 ULPHCS111 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
School of Engineering (Dean Rob Wallace)
Aerospace Engineering ULAERO110 ULAERO111 Dominic Diston Martin Varley
Architectural Engineering ULAREN111 ULAREN110 Martin Varley
Building Services and SustainableEnergy Engineering
ULBSSE110 Martin Varley
Computer Aided Engineering ULCAEB110 ULCAEB111 Matt Dickinson Martin Varley
Electronic Engineering ULELEN110 ULELEN111 Stephen Sigurnjak Martin Varley
Energy Engineering ULENER110 ULENER111 Martin Varley
Fire Engineering ULFIRE110 ULFIRE111 Martin Varley
Mechanical Engineering ULMECH110 ULMECH111 Justin Whitty Martin Varley
Motor Sports Engineering ULMSEN110 ULMSEN111 Graham Calderbank Martin Varley
Oil and Gas Safety Engineering Martin Varley
Robotics Engineering ULROBO110 ULROBO111 Stephen Mein Martin Varley
Table 22 Table of Administrative Details for each School
Subject E-Mail Address Location
PhysicsAstronomy Fosterhubuclanacuk Foster Admin Hub
Engineering mdash mdash
enough Do not underestimate this escalation as it can andwill result in withdrawal where necessary
From time to time you will be asked to communicate withthe Campus Administrative Service This is the administrationservice that deals with the academic paperwork for the Col-lege Campus Administrative Services are divided into a setof large Hubs that are distributed across the Preston campusTable 22 lists the locations dedicated e-mail addresses
24 The Academic Year
The Academic Year runs from September to August and is di-vided into overlapping terms and semesters Key dates for the2015-16 Academic Year are reproduced in Table 23 Termsare continuous periods of teaching between the major va-cations and are mainly are used for financial matters (figur-
ing maintenance loan payments student fees etc) Term 1runs from the Welcome Week until Christmas Term 2 runsfrom Christmas until Easter and Term 3 runs after EasterSemesters are used for academic matters (modules teachingand examinations) They normally conclude with dedicatedweeks for revision and examinations Semester One runs fromthe Welcome Week until the January exams Semester Tworuns from the end of January until the main May exams All un-dergraduate teaching is contained within Semesters One andTwo Semester Three runs over the summer and is not usedfor undergraduate teaching
All students must attend from the start of induction for theiryear group up to the end of the exams held during the Univer-sityrsquos Central Examination Weeks The exact usage of eachweek by the Teaching Team is specified in the AssessmentSchedule (available on eLearn Blackboard) If you need re-
6
26 Time Table
Table 23 Table of key dates in the 2015-16 AcademicCalendar See the Academic Year webpages (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyacademic_calendarphp)for a fuller breakdown and printable year chart
Date Event
14 Sep 2015 Welcome WeekTerm 1 begins
21 Sep 2015 Semester 1Teaching begins
11 Dec 2015 Term 1 ends
14 Dec 2015 Semester break begins
1 Jan 2016 Semester break ends
4 Jan 2016 Term 2 begins
22 Jan 2016 Semester 1 ends
25 Jan 2016 Semester 2 begins
18 Mar 2016 Term 2 ends
4 Apr 2016 Term 3 begins
20 May 2016 Semester 2Term 3 ends
23 May 2016 Semester 3 begins
26 Aug 2016 Semester 3 ends
assessment it is your responsibility to ensure that you are ableto meet the coursework reassessment deadline set (normallyin the third week of August) and that you are available to attendfor any summer resit examinations Absence due to a familyholiday or similar cause is not accepted as a reason for notattending resits or examinations at any time
25 Modules
The taught material on University courses is divided into Mod-ules discrete learning blocks that are led by a named ModuleLeader Other tutors may lecture or provide tutorial supportbut it is the module leader who is responsible for the assess-ment and content of that module Each module counts for adifferent number of credits Full time study counts as a collec-tion of modules that add up to a total of 120 credits For thiscourse each module counts for 20 credits
The list of modules for this Year can be found in Table 24A complete list of UCLan modules can be found in the OnlineModule Catalogue The list of modules you will study in lateryears can be found in the Course Handbooks for your individ-ual degree courses
Modules will differ in their pattern of assessment but theeventual result with be a percentage grade between 0 and100 A module is considered as ldquopassedrdquo if your grade init is greater than or equal to 40 The credits are only countedif the module is passed at the aforementioned 40 level
Taught material on the course is divided equally betweenphysics and mathematics All students on the Course will takethe same set of three physics modules (APC801 802 and803) These run for the full duration of the year The math-ematics modules are split into two sets Most students will
take the three APC mathematics modules (APC804 5 and 6)these contain equivalent material as A-Level Maths Core 1-4APC804 runs for the first half of the course while APC805 runsfor the second half
If a student has a particular interest in doing a ldquofree-choiceelectiverdquo such as a language as a seventh module it may bepossible for this to be studied as a University Certificate along-side the main course This should be discussed with your Aca-demic Adviser because of the workload implications
26 Time Table
The University uses a single online time tabling system Youwill be able to access your personalised time table via the Stu-dent Portal The online timetable will be updated for roomchanges cancellations and other changes and should bechecked every day for the latest information Changes to thetimetable will be pushed out to the online time table This syn-chronises with the monitors that are outside of each teachingroom and the larger screens that are at the main entrance toeach building
The Foundation Year provides a mix of teaching methodssuch as lectures laboratory work tutorials and seminars Astudent may expect an average of 18 hours per week of con-tact time A typical year-long lecture module has an averageof 3 hours per week of contact time Note that depending oncohort size students may be allocated into pairs or groups forthe laboratory work or tutorials You must attend the tutorial orlab at the time allocated to your group and you cannot changewithout prior permission from the module tutor
Occasionally students will be required to attend rearrangedclasses or extra tutorials at times or on days when they donot normally have classes Students should not commit them-selves to part time jobs that conflict with the academic require-ments of their course Wednesday afternoons are traditionallyleft unscheduled at British Universities to allow for undergrad-uate sporting fixtures and social events
27 Results
Module results are released on myUCLan Final modulemarks are released after the end of Semester 2 on the lastMonday of June In 2016 this is the 27th of June
28 Progression
Progression is the process whereby a student satisfactorilycompletes one year of study and progresses on to the nextyear of their course Discussions about your progressionthrough the course normally take place in February each yearIt is an opportunity for you to make plans for your study overthe next academic year The Course Team will tell you aboutthe various modules combinations available and you will bothagree on the most appropriate (and legal) course of study foryou
All modules must be passed in order for a student toprogress The Foundation Year is designed to provide you withthe minimum required knowledge of physics and mathematics
7
2 COURSE STRUCTURE AND OVERVIEW
Table 24 Available modules on the PhysicsEngineering Foundation Year Column 1 lists the module code column 2 lists themodule title The last column lists whether the module is taught in a single semester or in both semesters (Year Long)
Module Code Module Title Delivery
APC801 Introduction to University Physics Year Long
APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields Year Long
APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics Year Long
APC804 Mathematical Methods Semester One
APC805 Further Mathematical Methods Semester Two
APC806 Graphs and Vectors Year Long
to be able to enter the BScBEng programmes Therefore sim-ply passing all modules at 40 will not adequately prepare youfor student in the first year of the degree programme
281 Progression Criteria
In order to ensure a student can cope with the academic con-tent in Year 1 it has been determined that the following pro-gression criteria will apply
Automatic Admission
Physics Year One 120 credits and an average percentagemark (APM) of at least 60 across all modules allowsthe option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of thePhysicsAstrophysics degree programmes
Engineering Year One 120 credits and an average percent-age mark (APM) of at least 50 across all modules al-lows option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of theEngineering degree programmes
Discretionary Admission
The Course Assessment Boards will consider students for ad-mission with 120 credits and with an APM that is up to 10points below the APM for their respective course (ie 50for Physics 40 for Engineering) Students may be asked toundertake reassessment designed to raise their APM to a levelrequested by the Course Board
Alternative Admission
Students who achieve 120 credits and an APM of at least 40and who are not admitted to a PhysicsEngineering degreemay be offered admission to another degree programme atthe University of Central Lancashire
29 Further Information
291 UCLan Official Web-pages
The following are a few of the public facing UCLan webpagesthat might be useful to you
bull Welcome to UCLan (httpwwwuclanacukstudentsstudynewphp) This is the Welcome pageon uclanacuk that all new students are directed tobefore they arrive This will include check-lists of thingsto do before and during your Welcome here
bull Guide to Student Regulations (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsliferules_regsphp) This page in-cludes the Regulations for the Conduct of Students
bull Academic Regulations (httpwwwuclanacukaqasuacademic_regulationsphp) This page in-cludes the most up to date copies of both the UCLanAcademic Regulations which state how courses andmodules are regulated and the Assessment Handbookwhich details the principles under which assessment isconducted
bull Student Support (httpswwwuclanacukstudents) The central hub for Student Supportwebpages at UCLan Including advise on student lifehealth amp well-being finances study issues and muchmore
bull Academic Calendar (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyacademic_calendarphp) This pagecontains the most up to date version of the UCLanAcademic Calendar
Most student information including the teaching material oneLearn Blackboard and the sources above can be accessedfrom the Student Portal (httpsportaluclanacuk) us-ing your UCLan e-mail user-name and password Additionallystudents can review their enrolment personal details and aca-demic record via the myUCLan online service
292 Independent Sources
bull UCLan SU (httpwwwuclansucouk) The websiteof UCLanrsquos Student Union The Union is able to offer trulyindependent advice to you as it is controlled by the Stu-dent Body not by the University itself
bull Pluto (httppluto-onlinecom) Pluto is the Inde-pendent UCLan Student Newspaper It contains newsstories about Student Life both here and around the coun-try
8
Chapter 3
Before You Arrive
In this chapter we look at the things you bring to Universityndash ideally things you should know and things you should haveprocured You may have received a leaflet and letter aboutmathematics preparation after you accepted the offer to studyon this Course The revision section below replicates the rec-ommendations and resources from that leaflet After that welook at the basic stationary that you will need for your Courseand describe the type of calculator you should have
31 Revision
311 Necessary Skills
Mathematics is a key skill that you will have to develop duringyour time on the Course and it is vitally important that you areup to speed with the full range of GCSE (including Intermedi-ate and Higher tier) Mathematics before you start
Skills and topics that you should ideally be comfortable withinclude
Basic numeracy Including the use of directed (negative)numbers fractions (adding multiplying etc) surds in-dices order of operations highest common factors per-centages significant figures ratios etc
Algebra You should be able to manipulate basic algebraicequations including factorizing of simple quadratics mak-ing a quantity the subject of a formula repeating normalnumerical actions (multiplication factions indices factor-izing) with algebra
Trigonometry The area and angles of a triangle applicationof sine cosine and tangent simple vectors and vectoraddition
Graphs Plotting an xy graph how the equation y = mx +c relates to a straight line how algebraic equations(quadratics etc) can be plotted on such a graph
We will be testing these in the diagnostic test during WelcomeWeek and will offer some remedial help at the start of termHowever your entry into University will be a lot more fun andless stressful if you have got this sorted before you turn up
312 Revision Resources
There are two main resources that we recommend for appli-cants who are having to bring their mathematical skills up tothe level described above The first is a textbook that ac-companies a standalone qualification called the ldquoFoundationsof Mathematicsrdquo and the second is a free website called theldquoKhan Academyrdquo
Foundations of Advanced Mathematics 2nd Edition
This book is the best possible benchmark for the mathematicselement at the start of this course If you revise and practiceeverything contained in this book you will be well equipped totackle the material at the start of the Foundation Year It willget harder but this will give you an excellent head start
This book accompanies a standalone qualification that is de-signed to take a student from intermediate tier GCSE to thestart of AS Level maths While we do not recommend youtake the actual qualification the revision and teaching materi-als available for it are recommended You may also find thesematerials useful if you are studying mathematics for a currentnon-A Level qualification
Full Reference David Snell et al (2003) Foundations ofAdvanced Mathematics 2nd ed London Hodder EducationISBN 9780340869260
Khan Academy
wwwkhanacademyorgThis website is a good online study resource It was put to-
gether by Salman Khan a former hedge fund analyst who re-alized that there was no good free resource for people wantingto learn mathematics The Academy works on a challenge-and-response principle As you attempt problems it noticeswhere you are succeeding and failing and shows you morechallenging material or additional tutorials as necessary
You can spend as little or as much time on there as youwish mdash either to brush up a skill or as the main focus of yourrevision You may even find its format addictive For thosewanting to use the Academy as their main revision route wewould suggest that you take either of the following subjects
The World of Math This gives a broad overview of mathe-matics and includes elementary material where neces-sary wwwkhanacademyorgmath
9
3 BEFORE YOU ARRIVE
Algebra Basics This is a set of materials specifically put to-gether in preparation for US university entrance examswwwkhanacademyorgmathalgebra-basics
313 Additional Resources
There are several additional resources that may be useful toyou Some are free some are not
Bridging GCSE and A-Level Maths by Mark RowlandPublished by Collins ISBN 978-0-00-741023-1 Thisbook covers what you should know from GCSE andindicates where that will lead to at A Level It is about 160pages long with 80 pages of examples and referencesfollowed by 80 pages of problems This may not be souseful if you are too rusty on the GCSE parts
GCSE to A level Jump wwwm4thscomindexphpp=1_12 This website discusses the transition to A-Leveland includes links to several useful resources Werecommend you have a look at the self-audit sheets asthese give good examples of what yoursquoll be facing onyour course
Step UP To A-Level Maths wwwcimtplymouthacukprojectsmepresstep-updefaulthtm This websitelists the skills yoursquoll need to study maths at A-Level andalso includes chapters from a GCSE textbook
Maths Centre wwwmathcentreacuk This site deliverssupport materials (videos and PDF worksheets) free ofcharge to students lecturers and everyone looking forpost-16 maths help
The Jump wwwm4thscomgcse-to-a-level-bridgehtml This is a series of videos that were prepared byM4ths founder Steve Blades There are 30 videos intotal and the first 20 are on YouTube and are linked tofrom Steversquos website
YouTube You will find that there are a lot of helpful videos onYouTube If you get stuck on a topic try a YouTube searchand yoursquoll usually find videos from high school teachersand sometimes university lecturers who have put theirlessons online
32 Stationary
Supplying basic day-to-day style equipment such as pens pa-per and calculators is a studentrsquos responsibility How studentsorganize their work can be highly individualistic Neverthelessit is recommended that all students invest in some basic sta-tionary and something that will allow them to organize the sur-prisingly large amount of paper that will be generated duringtheir studies
The following should be considered as the minimum recom-mended set of equipment
Pens Always make sure that you have got at least one sparepen with youmdashespecially in exams Just as in school weask that students use either blue or black ink during as-sessment Red ink is usually reserved for marking greenink for moderation
Pencil eraser pencil sharpener The received wisdom isthat students use pen for writing and pencil for everythingelse (sketching graphs drawing diagrams etc)
Paper Students have to supply their own paper However theUniversity will provide paper in exams Do not be afraidof using a lot of paper and do not cram too much writingonto a single sheet It is often useful to be able to addnotes or annotations around whatever you have written
Filing You generally have two options here You can eitheruse bound notebooksmdashone per subjectmdashor you can fileloose paper in a binder Both techniques allows you toseparate your notes into different topicslectures
Ruler You will have to draw graphs and diagrams It is veryprobable that you are not Leonard Da Vinci and thus can-not draw an immaculate line free hand Thus a ruler willbe essential
Stapler (and staples)paper clips Something to keep yourlose papers together when they are not in your filing sys-tem Pages of an assignment should always be attachedtogethermdashit is your responsibility to make sure that sub-mitted assignments are in a condition where pages can-not become separated (quite easy when everybodyrsquoswork is piled together)
33 Calculators
In time you will learn to estimate the answers to most calcu-lations on the ldquoback of an enveloperdquo However until then youwill need to use a calculator or app It should be able to handlebasic trigonometry functions (sin cos tan) and their inversespowers (x2
radicx xy) logarithms (base 10 and natural) sci-
entific notation and the ability to work in radians as well asdegrees
If you studied A-Level Maths the calculator you had for thatwill be adequate Good calculator apps are also available onmost computer and mobile phone platforms (eg RealCalc onAndroid Applersquos Calculator for OS X and iOS Windows Cal-culator etc) However phone apps cannot be used in examsand some lecturers may object to you having your phone outin tutorials
We do not prescribe which type of calculator you should useoutside of exam times However you should avoid models thatare too advanced as you will not be able to take them intoexams (see below) A calculator is merely a tool that speedsup a process it will avail you little if you do not first understandthat process It is your responsibility to know how to use yourown calculator
Calculators will be allowed in some exams and youshould bring one to those exams Mobile phones and theirapps are not allowed in exam halls Calculators may not beallowed in some exams particularly those focusing on puremathematics You should check with the Module Leader asto whether a calculator is allowed in the examination for theirModule
Misuse of a calculator is counted as cheating (Unfair Means)under the Exam Regulations A Foundation Year is taught atLevel 3 the same as A-Level we therefore adopt the guideline
10
34 Misc
similar to of the Joint Council for Qualifications1 (the industrybody that represents the A-Level exam boards)
Specifically that in examinations calculators
bull Must not include these functions
ndash Language translators
ndash Symbolic algebra manipulation
ndash Symbolic differentiation or integration
ndash Graphical plotting
ndash Connect to the internet or other machines
bull Must not include retrievable information (eg mathemati-cal formulae text etc)
bull Any programmable memory must be erasable and shouldbe erased prior to the start of any exam
Notes
bull Standard calculator memory is allowed (the standard MMR M+ functions but this must be empty before anyexam begins)
bull Physical constants and unit conversion are allowed solong as those constants and conversions are not user pro-grammable
bull For reference the CASIO FX-85GT Plus is the defaultcalculator that students on our maths degree have in thepast been issued with
34 Misc
bull Carrying stuff around in your bag or rucksack will result init getting batteredmdashbinders become worn holes in paperbecome pulled rulers become chipped Think about thisin advance Possibly leave the full binder in your accom-modation and use card folders to protect notes in transitbefore you file them in the evening Keep your ruler in thesheath that it came in Use a pencil case to keep loosepens pencils etc together
bull There are several stationary shops in town including WHSmiths Staples and Rymans However shop aroundmdashsome shops are decidedly cheaper than others We arescientists and engineers itrsquos functionality that mattersnot style
1As specified in Section 3 of the 2014-15 rsquoICErsquo (Instructions for conductingexaminations)
11
Chapter 4
Text Books
In this Chapter we run down the Course Texts for this Courseand look at other books that might be of relevance Please donot buy the Course Texts yourself These will be distributed toyou upon arrival (the cost is included in your fees)
Any A-Level Physics andor A-Level Maths text book will beuseful to you so bring any existing MathsPhysics books withyou The following Sections also include details of a few othertext books that students might find useful
41 Physics
411 Course Text Introduction to Physics
Introduction to Physics is a full-colour textbook that is linked toa website system called WileyPlus through which you can ac-cess additional resources and a full electronic text of the bookWe will be using WileyPlus as a means of setting assignmentsand homeworks based on material from the Course Text Thisis the book you will be given upon arrival
Full reference John D Cutnell et al (2015) Introduction toPhysics International Student Version 10th ed New JerseyJohn Wiley amp Sons ISBN 9781118651520
412 Additional Texts
bull Jim Breithaupt (2015) Physics 4th ed Basingstoke Pal-grave MacMillan ISBN 9781137443236
bull Gareth Kelly and Nigel Wood (2013) Mathematics for ALevel Physics A Course Companion Cheltenham Illu-minate Publishing
bull Roger Muncaster (1993) A-Level Physics 4th ed Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9780748715848
bull Carol Tear (2013) Maths Skills for A Level Physics Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9781408521205
Breithhauptrsquos Physics is a comparable physics text to Cutnellamp Johnson albeit more compact Muncasterrsquos A-Level Physicsremains a favourite among many A-Level Physics teachersand FE lecturers It can appear rather old school but it is clearprecise and waffle free Muncaster is a text that rewards stu-dents who are willing to study hard The two maths skills books(Kelly amp Woood and Tear) have been written to accompany themathematics that arise in A-Level equivalent Physics The fo-cus here is on the use of maths to solve Physics problemsmore than is on maths for the sake of maths These may beuseful to students who struggle with the application of mathe-matics to physics
42 Mathematics
421 Course Text Foundation Mathematics
Foundation Mathematics is an online only text that is accessi-ble via WileyPlus We will be using WileyPlus as a means ofsetting assignments and homeworks based on material fromthe Course Text Please be aware that a Browser pluging (Wol-framrsquos CDF player) may be necessary to access some contentfrom the bookmdashthese are illustrative applets only and will notimpact upon assessment This is the book you will be givenupon arrival
Full reference Colin Steele et al (2015) Foundation Math-ematics 1st ed New Jersey John Wiley amp Sons ISBN9781118500507
13
4 TEXT BOOKS
422 Additional Texts
bull David Snell et al (2003) Foundations of Advanced Math-ematics 2nd ed London Hodder Education ISBN9780340869260
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2004) Core 1 and 2for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548960
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2005) Core 3 and 4for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548977
Snell et al is an introductory textbook that covers maths ma-terial that spans intermediate-Tier GCSE Maths up to and in-cluding some material from AS-Level Mathematics This wasthe book we recommended for students who have done littleor no A-Level Mathematics before they arrived The Quadlingand Neill textbooks accompany the OCRrsquos A-Level Mathemat-ics We will be covering comparable material in our Mathe-matics Modules Students who take the advanced MAC mathsmodules will be supplied with these books if necessary
43 Study Skills
We will integrate general study skills into our Physics teachinghighlighting where certain skills are important and showcasinghow you can learn more To support this we have chosen agood all round study guide (listed below) as the Course TextThis will be given to you when you arrive at UCLan
Nevertheless there are other books available (including anextensive range from Palgrave) These may be of interest tostudents who know that they have faced study problems in thepast or who are new to studying in a more academic and lessvocational manner
431 Course Text Study Skills For ScienceEngineering amp Technology Students
Itrsquos blurb describes it as an ldquoaccessible student-friendly hand-book that covers all of the essential study skills that will ensureyou get the most out of your Science Engineering or Technol-ogy courserdquo A good all round book that covers academic andpersonal skills We will be using sections from this book as thebasis for some of your skills sessions This is the book you willbe given upon arrival
Full reference Pat Maier Anna Barney and Geraldine Price(2009) Study Skills for Science Engineering and TechnologyStudents Harlow Pearson ISBN 9780273720737
432 Additional Texts
bull Stella Cottrell (2013) The Study Skills Handbook 4th edBasingstroke Palgrave MacMillan ISBN 978113728925
bull David Sands (2004) Studying Physics BasingstrokePalgrave MacMillan ISBN 9781403903280
Stellar Cottrell has established herself as one of the leadingauthors in the field of Study Skills and The Study Skills Hand-book is her flagship volume It contains a lot of practical guidesand information about how to successfully manage your stud-ies Studying Physics describes itself as ldquoa unique guide tothe essential skills in physics you need to acquire by the timeyou graduaterdquo Although this book comes under the PalgraveStudy Skills banner it is really more of an academic text thanmany other Study Skills books It focuses more towards beinga reference text than a self-help one
14
Chapter 5
Frequently Asked Questions
51 Study Time
How much work should I do Courses at UCLan are de-signed with the expectation that students can achieve a suc-cessful result by studying for 10 hours for each credit they needto achieve This includes attendance at UCLan and time spentin private study
Your modules are all worth 20 credits so you should ex-pect to do a minimum of 200 study hours for each of themThat 200-hours contains 3 hours per week of class contacttime (approximately 70 hours) The remaining will be under-taken by you as self-study support work in readiness for theclasses and assessment time The module descriptors (avail-able on eLearn) include an indicative breakdown of how thestudy time may be divided between various activities suchas reviewing lectures trying practice questions and attempt-ing assessments
Do not underestimate the amount of work you need to do toachieve your potential As a rough guide there are about 31weeks in the teaching year (24 in-class weeks 2-3 revisionsweeks amp 4 exam weeks) Six modules at 200 hours per mod-ule equals 1200 hours Spread out over those 31 weeks thisequates to about 39 hours a week ie the same hours as afull time job
Why am I having to work harder do less work than myfriends You may find yourselves having to work harder andput in more hours than some of your friends This is perfectlynatural and is a by-product of your individual experiences
Students who have done either maths or physics A-Levelmdashyou will have sat one or both of these before So even if youdid not get a high grade or only did one of the two you willstill have seen some of this material before That means youmay find yourself having to do less work and put in fewer hoursthan some of your friends Do not become smug There arestill plenty of ways to fail and over-confidence will be the routeto many of them
For a former PhysicsMaths A-Level student the route tosuccess is to use this year productively and to repair problemsthat occurred during your A-Levels Maintain your studies Ifyou slack-off your skills will become unpracticed and you willbe knocked sideways once we get to the really difficult materialin Semester Two
Everybody elsemdashthe disadvantage that you face is that youwill not have seen as much of the material as the former A-Level students Nevertheless some of our best students wereBTEC students who committed themselves from the outsetand ended-up with higher grades than most A-Level students
Ultimately you are trying to learn in one year what it takesmost students two-years to learn The only way for you to suc-ceed is to embrace that challenge
52 Results and Progression
Do I get a separate certificate or qualification for complet-ing the Foundation Year No the Foundation Year is onlythe first year of a longer degree The qualification is that finaldegree certificate
Does the Foundation Year count towards my degreeaward No your average mark for the Foundation Year willonly determine whether you progress to Year One
Will I get a transcript of my results A Transcript lists themodules undertaken credit value and grades achieved duringeach academic session of study The overall result obtainedwill also be indicated You will receive a transcript upon thesuccessful completion of your programme of study
That means you will not automatically receive a paper tran-script at the end of the Foundation Year as your course (thefull degree) has not yet finished Your official module resultsthose accepted by the Assessment Boards will be availableon myUCLan
Please see the Certificates and Awards webpage formore information You may wish to contact Awardcere-moniesuclanacuk if you have a particular need for a papertranscript
I think Irsquom going to fail what should I do We cannot es-cape the unfortunate fact that not every student on this yearwill progress onto Year One of their chosen degree There areacademic standards for progression (the move from one yearof study to the next) that you must meet Failure to meet thosegrades may result in you having to change to a different courseor potentially leave University after only one year
15
5 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Doing well in these skills is merely a measurement of a sin-gle aptitude It is never a measurement of a personrsquos worth ortheir potential in a different field it may just be that your ap-titudes lie elsewhere Struggling against something that youmay not be suited to can in some circumstances lead to anxi-ety and depression
Please do not be frightened in confronting this before theend of the course Your academic adviser can offer guidancethe student support service has a confidential Counseling Ser-vice for anybody feeling overwhelmed and UCLanrsquos careersservices can all help you evaluate the larger picture
16
Chapter 6
Student Finance
In this chapter we look at how your fees will be used and pro-vide guidelines for typical living costs for students in Preston
61 Tuition Fees
Your tuition fees include
bull Scheduled course tuition academic technical and ad-ministrative support use of course equipment and facil-ities
bull Course related induction activities
bull Placement year academic support (where the course in-cludes a placement year)
bull Course assessment and awards
bull Access to the universityrsquos library and online resourcesincluding on-campus wifi networked and remote accessto the universityrsquos virtual learning environment
bull Use of the universityrsquos estate and resources for scheduledactivities and learning support
bull Dissertation project andor thesis printing and bindingwhere the submission of printed and bound documentsis a requirement for assessment of the module
bull Use of the universityrsquos technical equipment and materialsidentified by the course teaching team as essential for thecompletion of the course
bull The extra items listed against your course in Table 61below
62 Living costs
Living costs are not included in your tuition fees You will needto budget for these separately Table 62 includes an indicationof some typical living costs but everyone is different and youare strongly advised to plan your own budget
You may also need to budget for ldquoone offrdquo or irregular costsTable 63 contains a representative list
63 Additional Costs
There are some costs that may be incurred by some but not allstudents and are not included within the Tuition Fees Theseare listed in Table 64
64 Student Finance
If you are dealing with agencies like Student Finance pleaseremember to tell them the full duration of your course TheFoundation Year adds an additional year to the BScBEng de-grees and MPhysMEng degrees making them 4-years and 5-years long respectively
UCLanrsquos Student Finance Support Team are available to ad-vise you on any problems and can provide short term emer-gency loans in some cases
17
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 61 Table of items included in Student Fees
Course Additional items included in the tuition fees for yourcourse
Foundation Year for Courses covered by this Hand-book
Compulsory text books (see Chapter 4)
BSc (Hons) Robotics EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering
IET Membership
BSc (Hons) Physics years 1 2 and 3 Frontier Education events
BSc (Hons) Motorsports Engineering years 1 2 and 3 Imech E Student RegistrationFormula Student
MPhys (Hons) AstrophysicsBEng (Hons) Computer Aided EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic EngineeringBSc (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringBSc (Hons) Motorsports EngineeringBSc (Hons) PhysicsBSc (Hons) Robotics Engineering
Compulsory text books in year one
18
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Contents
Preface iThis Document iStatements i
I Induction amp Orientation 1
1 Introduction 311 Headrsquos Welcome 3
2 Course Structure and Overview 521 Rationale and Aims 522 Enrolment and Induction 523 Tutors and Leads 524 The Academic Year 625 Modules 726 Time Table 727 Results 728 Progression 729 Further Information 8
3 Before You Arrive 931 Revision 932 Stationary 1033 Calculators 1034 Misc 11
4 Text Books 1341 Physics 1342 Mathematics 1343 Study Skills 14
5 Frequently Asked Questions 1551 Study Time 1552 Results and Progression 15
6 Student Finance 1761 Tuition Fees 1762 Living costs 1763 Additional Costs 1764 Student Finance 17
ii
Contents
II Course Operation 21
7 Communication 2371 Methods of Communication 2372 The Student Voice 2573 Course Representatives and School Presidents 2574 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC) 2675 Complaints 26
8 Teaching 2781 Expertise of Staff 2782 Teaching Methods 2783 Lectures 2784 Tutorials 2785 Teaching Spaces 2886 Study Support 2987 Learning Information Services 29
9 Assessment 3191 Assessment Principles 3192 Assessment Methods 3193 Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements 3194 Feedback 3295 Extensions and late submissions 3296 Quality Assurance 3397 Classification of Awards 3398 Extenuating Circumstances 3499 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP) 34910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation 35
10 Attendance and Engagement 37101 Attendance is Important 37102 Student Attendance Monitoring 37103 Procedure for non-engagement 38104 International Students 38105 Prolonged Absence 39
11 Student Support and Guidance 41111 Academic Advisers 41112 The lt i gt 41113 The Studentsrsquo Union 41114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties 41115 The Careers Service 42
12 Health And Well-Being 43121 Conduct 43122 Health and Safety 43123 Data Protection and Confidentiality 44124 Fitness to Study Procedure 44
A Physics FYE Programme Specification 45
B Engineering FYE Programme Specification 49
iii
Part I
Induction amp Orientation
1
Chapter 1
Introduction
11 Headrsquos Welcome
Welcome to the Schoolof Physical Sciences andComputing (PSC) andcongratulations on being ac-cepted on the programme
I am delighted that youhave chosen to enrol onthe Physics and Engineer-ing Foundation ProgrammeWe will endeavour to pro-vide you with an outstandingexperience of higher educa-tion by continuously improv-ing this course through your
feedback year on year We are aware that you have made adecision that affects your future career and we can assure youthat we will work hard to meet your aspirations However wealso expect that you will commit sufficient time and efforts toacquire and apply the knowledge and experience required tosucceed in your field of study
I trust that you will find your experience enjoyable and re-warding In the meantime if you have any queries or concernsI would advise you to contact your course leader at the earliestpossible opportunity
Dr Stewart EyresHead of School of Physical Sciences and ComputingTwitter astrostewey
3
Chapter 2
Course Structure and Overview
This Chapter covers the central concepts of Higher Educationand how they apply to this Course We start by looking at therational and aims of the course upon which you are enrolledbefore covering how the course is organised administrativelyand academically We then look at how you can access yourweekly time table the structure of the academic year and fi-nally at progressionmdashhow we manage transition into the nextyear of your studies
21 Rationale and Aims
A Foundation Year is the first year of a full time four-year Bachelor (BScBEng) or five-year integrated Masters(MPhysMEng) degree You will often find the Foundation Yearreferred to as ldquoYear Zerordquo as it comes before ldquoYear Onerdquo of theshorter versions of those degrees The aim of this year asdescribed in the Physics amp Engineering Programme Specifica-tions is to ldquosupply the necessary expertise and experiencerdquorequired for new students to enter a range of Physics or Engi-neering degrees when ldquothey do not already possess the nec-essary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do sordquo
The aims of this Year will be realised by providing you witha ldquobackground and experiencerdquo in physics and mathematicalmethods that is broadly equivalent to a student who has ful-filled the entry requirements (nominally A2 level in Physics ampMaths) The syllabus is designed to be comparable to A-LevelMaths and Physics albeit in a form that can be taught full-timeover 24 weeks
Table 21 lists the Degree Courses that are fed by thePhysicsEngineering Foundation Year These Degree Coursesare from two separate Schools the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing (PSC) and the School of Engineer-ing Both of these Schools are part of the College of Scienceand Technology This year is mainly taught by staff from theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI httpwwwstaruclanacuk) within the PSC The first column of Table 21 lists theDegree Title the second and third columns list the respectiveprogramme codes (unique idents used for paperwork) for therelevant FYE Bachelor and Masters Degrees
This particular Handbook covers the Foundation Year por-tion of your degrees Students should consult the Handbooksfor their individual degree courses for information about YearOne and later employment opportunities the degree accredi-tation and other matters relating to those professions Those
Handbooks will be available from the separate School areason eLearn Blackboard
22 Enrolment and Induction
There will be a Welcome Week prior to the start of teachingAll students are expected to attend the Welcome Week andthe InductionOrientation events that are arranged during thatweek It is important that students complete their online enrol-ment as early as possible
Please make sure you are issued with a UCLan StudentID Card and a University e-mail address You will need theID card to access the library prove your identity and to scanin (prove attendance) at all teaching events The e-mail ad-dress is your key to accessing almost all online material foryour course including teaching materials online assessmentnotices from the Administrative Hub and your electronic timetable
Please see the information in the Welcome e-mails from theAdmissions staff and the Check-list on the Welcome to UCLanwebpage During the Welcome Week help for almost all even-tualities is available from The lt i gt on the Ground Floor of theUCLan Library
23 Tutors and Leads
Whilst you are at UCLan it will be your Academic Adviserand the Year Tutor who deal with matters involving attendancemonitoring initial welfare counselling and programme adviceThey will usually be your first point of contact in many mattersThe role of the Academic Adviser is to act as a liaison betweenyourself and the University The Year Tutors coordinate mattersacross the Year The Year Tutor for Physics is Dr Jason Kirk(JMKirkuclanacuk) while the Year Tutor for Engineering isDr Stephen Kirkup (SMKirkupuclanacuk)
Columns 4 and 5 of Table 21 list the Course Leaders andAcademic Leads for each of the named Degree CoursesCourse Leaders coordinate matters including the delivery andassessment of modules across all years of specific DegreeCourses Academic Leads coordinate matters including aca-demic quality and discipline across a set of related subjectsYou may be referred to these Leads if matters are serious
5
2 COURSE STRUCTURE AND OVERVIEW
Table 21 Table of Foundation Entry Courses that are taught using some or all of the APC80x modules The first columnlists the course title The middle columns list the programme codes for the 4-year Bachelor (BScBEng) and 5-year Masters(MPhysMEngMMath) courses The final two columns list the Course Leader and relevant Academic Lead for each Course
FYE Course Title Y0 Programme Code Course Lead Academic Lead
Bachelor Masters
School of Physical Sciences amp Computing (Head Stew Eyres)
Applied Physics ULAPPH111 ULAPPH112 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Astrophysics ULASPH100 ULASPH111 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Physics With Astro ULPWAS111 ULPWAS112 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Physics ULPHCS100 ULPHCS111 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
School of Engineering (Dean Rob Wallace)
Aerospace Engineering ULAERO110 ULAERO111 Dominic Diston Martin Varley
Architectural Engineering ULAREN111 ULAREN110 Martin Varley
Building Services and SustainableEnergy Engineering
ULBSSE110 Martin Varley
Computer Aided Engineering ULCAEB110 ULCAEB111 Matt Dickinson Martin Varley
Electronic Engineering ULELEN110 ULELEN111 Stephen Sigurnjak Martin Varley
Energy Engineering ULENER110 ULENER111 Martin Varley
Fire Engineering ULFIRE110 ULFIRE111 Martin Varley
Mechanical Engineering ULMECH110 ULMECH111 Justin Whitty Martin Varley
Motor Sports Engineering ULMSEN110 ULMSEN111 Graham Calderbank Martin Varley
Oil and Gas Safety Engineering Martin Varley
Robotics Engineering ULROBO110 ULROBO111 Stephen Mein Martin Varley
Table 22 Table of Administrative Details for each School
Subject E-Mail Address Location
PhysicsAstronomy Fosterhubuclanacuk Foster Admin Hub
Engineering mdash mdash
enough Do not underestimate this escalation as it can andwill result in withdrawal where necessary
From time to time you will be asked to communicate withthe Campus Administrative Service This is the administrationservice that deals with the academic paperwork for the Col-lege Campus Administrative Services are divided into a setof large Hubs that are distributed across the Preston campusTable 22 lists the locations dedicated e-mail addresses
24 The Academic Year
The Academic Year runs from September to August and is di-vided into overlapping terms and semesters Key dates for the2015-16 Academic Year are reproduced in Table 23 Termsare continuous periods of teaching between the major va-cations and are mainly are used for financial matters (figur-
ing maintenance loan payments student fees etc) Term 1runs from the Welcome Week until Christmas Term 2 runsfrom Christmas until Easter and Term 3 runs after EasterSemesters are used for academic matters (modules teachingand examinations) They normally conclude with dedicatedweeks for revision and examinations Semester One runs fromthe Welcome Week until the January exams Semester Tworuns from the end of January until the main May exams All un-dergraduate teaching is contained within Semesters One andTwo Semester Three runs over the summer and is not usedfor undergraduate teaching
All students must attend from the start of induction for theiryear group up to the end of the exams held during the Univer-sityrsquos Central Examination Weeks The exact usage of eachweek by the Teaching Team is specified in the AssessmentSchedule (available on eLearn Blackboard) If you need re-
6
26 Time Table
Table 23 Table of key dates in the 2015-16 AcademicCalendar See the Academic Year webpages (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyacademic_calendarphp)for a fuller breakdown and printable year chart
Date Event
14 Sep 2015 Welcome WeekTerm 1 begins
21 Sep 2015 Semester 1Teaching begins
11 Dec 2015 Term 1 ends
14 Dec 2015 Semester break begins
1 Jan 2016 Semester break ends
4 Jan 2016 Term 2 begins
22 Jan 2016 Semester 1 ends
25 Jan 2016 Semester 2 begins
18 Mar 2016 Term 2 ends
4 Apr 2016 Term 3 begins
20 May 2016 Semester 2Term 3 ends
23 May 2016 Semester 3 begins
26 Aug 2016 Semester 3 ends
assessment it is your responsibility to ensure that you are ableto meet the coursework reassessment deadline set (normallyin the third week of August) and that you are available to attendfor any summer resit examinations Absence due to a familyholiday or similar cause is not accepted as a reason for notattending resits or examinations at any time
25 Modules
The taught material on University courses is divided into Mod-ules discrete learning blocks that are led by a named ModuleLeader Other tutors may lecture or provide tutorial supportbut it is the module leader who is responsible for the assess-ment and content of that module Each module counts for adifferent number of credits Full time study counts as a collec-tion of modules that add up to a total of 120 credits For thiscourse each module counts for 20 credits
The list of modules for this Year can be found in Table 24A complete list of UCLan modules can be found in the OnlineModule Catalogue The list of modules you will study in lateryears can be found in the Course Handbooks for your individ-ual degree courses
Modules will differ in their pattern of assessment but theeventual result with be a percentage grade between 0 and100 A module is considered as ldquopassedrdquo if your grade init is greater than or equal to 40 The credits are only countedif the module is passed at the aforementioned 40 level
Taught material on the course is divided equally betweenphysics and mathematics All students on the Course will takethe same set of three physics modules (APC801 802 and803) These run for the full duration of the year The math-ematics modules are split into two sets Most students will
take the three APC mathematics modules (APC804 5 and 6)these contain equivalent material as A-Level Maths Core 1-4APC804 runs for the first half of the course while APC805 runsfor the second half
If a student has a particular interest in doing a ldquofree-choiceelectiverdquo such as a language as a seventh module it may bepossible for this to be studied as a University Certificate along-side the main course This should be discussed with your Aca-demic Adviser because of the workload implications
26 Time Table
The University uses a single online time tabling system Youwill be able to access your personalised time table via the Stu-dent Portal The online timetable will be updated for roomchanges cancellations and other changes and should bechecked every day for the latest information Changes to thetimetable will be pushed out to the online time table This syn-chronises with the monitors that are outside of each teachingroom and the larger screens that are at the main entrance toeach building
The Foundation Year provides a mix of teaching methodssuch as lectures laboratory work tutorials and seminars Astudent may expect an average of 18 hours per week of con-tact time A typical year-long lecture module has an averageof 3 hours per week of contact time Note that depending oncohort size students may be allocated into pairs or groups forthe laboratory work or tutorials You must attend the tutorial orlab at the time allocated to your group and you cannot changewithout prior permission from the module tutor
Occasionally students will be required to attend rearrangedclasses or extra tutorials at times or on days when they donot normally have classes Students should not commit them-selves to part time jobs that conflict with the academic require-ments of their course Wednesday afternoons are traditionallyleft unscheduled at British Universities to allow for undergrad-uate sporting fixtures and social events
27 Results
Module results are released on myUCLan Final modulemarks are released after the end of Semester 2 on the lastMonday of June In 2016 this is the 27th of June
28 Progression
Progression is the process whereby a student satisfactorilycompletes one year of study and progresses on to the nextyear of their course Discussions about your progressionthrough the course normally take place in February each yearIt is an opportunity for you to make plans for your study overthe next academic year The Course Team will tell you aboutthe various modules combinations available and you will bothagree on the most appropriate (and legal) course of study foryou
All modules must be passed in order for a student toprogress The Foundation Year is designed to provide you withthe minimum required knowledge of physics and mathematics
7
2 COURSE STRUCTURE AND OVERVIEW
Table 24 Available modules on the PhysicsEngineering Foundation Year Column 1 lists the module code column 2 lists themodule title The last column lists whether the module is taught in a single semester or in both semesters (Year Long)
Module Code Module Title Delivery
APC801 Introduction to University Physics Year Long
APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields Year Long
APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics Year Long
APC804 Mathematical Methods Semester One
APC805 Further Mathematical Methods Semester Two
APC806 Graphs and Vectors Year Long
to be able to enter the BScBEng programmes Therefore sim-ply passing all modules at 40 will not adequately prepare youfor student in the first year of the degree programme
281 Progression Criteria
In order to ensure a student can cope with the academic con-tent in Year 1 it has been determined that the following pro-gression criteria will apply
Automatic Admission
Physics Year One 120 credits and an average percentagemark (APM) of at least 60 across all modules allowsthe option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of thePhysicsAstrophysics degree programmes
Engineering Year One 120 credits and an average percent-age mark (APM) of at least 50 across all modules al-lows option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of theEngineering degree programmes
Discretionary Admission
The Course Assessment Boards will consider students for ad-mission with 120 credits and with an APM that is up to 10points below the APM for their respective course (ie 50for Physics 40 for Engineering) Students may be asked toundertake reassessment designed to raise their APM to a levelrequested by the Course Board
Alternative Admission
Students who achieve 120 credits and an APM of at least 40and who are not admitted to a PhysicsEngineering degreemay be offered admission to another degree programme atthe University of Central Lancashire
29 Further Information
291 UCLan Official Web-pages
The following are a few of the public facing UCLan webpagesthat might be useful to you
bull Welcome to UCLan (httpwwwuclanacukstudentsstudynewphp) This is the Welcome pageon uclanacuk that all new students are directed tobefore they arrive This will include check-lists of thingsto do before and during your Welcome here
bull Guide to Student Regulations (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsliferules_regsphp) This page in-cludes the Regulations for the Conduct of Students
bull Academic Regulations (httpwwwuclanacukaqasuacademic_regulationsphp) This page in-cludes the most up to date copies of both the UCLanAcademic Regulations which state how courses andmodules are regulated and the Assessment Handbookwhich details the principles under which assessment isconducted
bull Student Support (httpswwwuclanacukstudents) The central hub for Student Supportwebpages at UCLan Including advise on student lifehealth amp well-being finances study issues and muchmore
bull Academic Calendar (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyacademic_calendarphp) This pagecontains the most up to date version of the UCLanAcademic Calendar
Most student information including the teaching material oneLearn Blackboard and the sources above can be accessedfrom the Student Portal (httpsportaluclanacuk) us-ing your UCLan e-mail user-name and password Additionallystudents can review their enrolment personal details and aca-demic record via the myUCLan online service
292 Independent Sources
bull UCLan SU (httpwwwuclansucouk) The websiteof UCLanrsquos Student Union The Union is able to offer trulyindependent advice to you as it is controlled by the Stu-dent Body not by the University itself
bull Pluto (httppluto-onlinecom) Pluto is the Inde-pendent UCLan Student Newspaper It contains newsstories about Student Life both here and around the coun-try
8
Chapter 3
Before You Arrive
In this chapter we look at the things you bring to Universityndash ideally things you should know and things you should haveprocured You may have received a leaflet and letter aboutmathematics preparation after you accepted the offer to studyon this Course The revision section below replicates the rec-ommendations and resources from that leaflet After that welook at the basic stationary that you will need for your Courseand describe the type of calculator you should have
31 Revision
311 Necessary Skills
Mathematics is a key skill that you will have to develop duringyour time on the Course and it is vitally important that you areup to speed with the full range of GCSE (including Intermedi-ate and Higher tier) Mathematics before you start
Skills and topics that you should ideally be comfortable withinclude
Basic numeracy Including the use of directed (negative)numbers fractions (adding multiplying etc) surds in-dices order of operations highest common factors per-centages significant figures ratios etc
Algebra You should be able to manipulate basic algebraicequations including factorizing of simple quadratics mak-ing a quantity the subject of a formula repeating normalnumerical actions (multiplication factions indices factor-izing) with algebra
Trigonometry The area and angles of a triangle applicationof sine cosine and tangent simple vectors and vectoraddition
Graphs Plotting an xy graph how the equation y = mx +c relates to a straight line how algebraic equations(quadratics etc) can be plotted on such a graph
We will be testing these in the diagnostic test during WelcomeWeek and will offer some remedial help at the start of termHowever your entry into University will be a lot more fun andless stressful if you have got this sorted before you turn up
312 Revision Resources
There are two main resources that we recommend for appli-cants who are having to bring their mathematical skills up tothe level described above The first is a textbook that ac-companies a standalone qualification called the ldquoFoundationsof Mathematicsrdquo and the second is a free website called theldquoKhan Academyrdquo
Foundations of Advanced Mathematics 2nd Edition
This book is the best possible benchmark for the mathematicselement at the start of this course If you revise and practiceeverything contained in this book you will be well equipped totackle the material at the start of the Foundation Year It willget harder but this will give you an excellent head start
This book accompanies a standalone qualification that is de-signed to take a student from intermediate tier GCSE to thestart of AS Level maths While we do not recommend youtake the actual qualification the revision and teaching materi-als available for it are recommended You may also find thesematerials useful if you are studying mathematics for a currentnon-A Level qualification
Full Reference David Snell et al (2003) Foundations ofAdvanced Mathematics 2nd ed London Hodder EducationISBN 9780340869260
Khan Academy
wwwkhanacademyorgThis website is a good online study resource It was put to-
gether by Salman Khan a former hedge fund analyst who re-alized that there was no good free resource for people wantingto learn mathematics The Academy works on a challenge-and-response principle As you attempt problems it noticeswhere you are succeeding and failing and shows you morechallenging material or additional tutorials as necessary
You can spend as little or as much time on there as youwish mdash either to brush up a skill or as the main focus of yourrevision You may even find its format addictive For thosewanting to use the Academy as their main revision route wewould suggest that you take either of the following subjects
The World of Math This gives a broad overview of mathe-matics and includes elementary material where neces-sary wwwkhanacademyorgmath
9
3 BEFORE YOU ARRIVE
Algebra Basics This is a set of materials specifically put to-gether in preparation for US university entrance examswwwkhanacademyorgmathalgebra-basics
313 Additional Resources
There are several additional resources that may be useful toyou Some are free some are not
Bridging GCSE and A-Level Maths by Mark RowlandPublished by Collins ISBN 978-0-00-741023-1 Thisbook covers what you should know from GCSE andindicates where that will lead to at A Level It is about 160pages long with 80 pages of examples and referencesfollowed by 80 pages of problems This may not be souseful if you are too rusty on the GCSE parts
GCSE to A level Jump wwwm4thscomindexphpp=1_12 This website discusses the transition to A-Leveland includes links to several useful resources Werecommend you have a look at the self-audit sheets asthese give good examples of what yoursquoll be facing onyour course
Step UP To A-Level Maths wwwcimtplymouthacukprojectsmepresstep-updefaulthtm This websitelists the skills yoursquoll need to study maths at A-Level andalso includes chapters from a GCSE textbook
Maths Centre wwwmathcentreacuk This site deliverssupport materials (videos and PDF worksheets) free ofcharge to students lecturers and everyone looking forpost-16 maths help
The Jump wwwm4thscomgcse-to-a-level-bridgehtml This is a series of videos that were prepared byM4ths founder Steve Blades There are 30 videos intotal and the first 20 are on YouTube and are linked tofrom Steversquos website
YouTube You will find that there are a lot of helpful videos onYouTube If you get stuck on a topic try a YouTube searchand yoursquoll usually find videos from high school teachersand sometimes university lecturers who have put theirlessons online
32 Stationary
Supplying basic day-to-day style equipment such as pens pa-per and calculators is a studentrsquos responsibility How studentsorganize their work can be highly individualistic Neverthelessit is recommended that all students invest in some basic sta-tionary and something that will allow them to organize the sur-prisingly large amount of paper that will be generated duringtheir studies
The following should be considered as the minimum recom-mended set of equipment
Pens Always make sure that you have got at least one sparepen with youmdashespecially in exams Just as in school weask that students use either blue or black ink during as-sessment Red ink is usually reserved for marking greenink for moderation
Pencil eraser pencil sharpener The received wisdom isthat students use pen for writing and pencil for everythingelse (sketching graphs drawing diagrams etc)
Paper Students have to supply their own paper However theUniversity will provide paper in exams Do not be afraidof using a lot of paper and do not cram too much writingonto a single sheet It is often useful to be able to addnotes or annotations around whatever you have written
Filing You generally have two options here You can eitheruse bound notebooksmdashone per subjectmdashor you can fileloose paper in a binder Both techniques allows you toseparate your notes into different topicslectures
Ruler You will have to draw graphs and diagrams It is veryprobable that you are not Leonard Da Vinci and thus can-not draw an immaculate line free hand Thus a ruler willbe essential
Stapler (and staples)paper clips Something to keep yourlose papers together when they are not in your filing sys-tem Pages of an assignment should always be attachedtogethermdashit is your responsibility to make sure that sub-mitted assignments are in a condition where pages can-not become separated (quite easy when everybodyrsquoswork is piled together)
33 Calculators
In time you will learn to estimate the answers to most calcu-lations on the ldquoback of an enveloperdquo However until then youwill need to use a calculator or app It should be able to handlebasic trigonometry functions (sin cos tan) and their inversespowers (x2
radicx xy) logarithms (base 10 and natural) sci-
entific notation and the ability to work in radians as well asdegrees
If you studied A-Level Maths the calculator you had for thatwill be adequate Good calculator apps are also available onmost computer and mobile phone platforms (eg RealCalc onAndroid Applersquos Calculator for OS X and iOS Windows Cal-culator etc) However phone apps cannot be used in examsand some lecturers may object to you having your phone outin tutorials
We do not prescribe which type of calculator you should useoutside of exam times However you should avoid models thatare too advanced as you will not be able to take them intoexams (see below) A calculator is merely a tool that speedsup a process it will avail you little if you do not first understandthat process It is your responsibility to know how to use yourown calculator
Calculators will be allowed in some exams and youshould bring one to those exams Mobile phones and theirapps are not allowed in exam halls Calculators may not beallowed in some exams particularly those focusing on puremathematics You should check with the Module Leader asto whether a calculator is allowed in the examination for theirModule
Misuse of a calculator is counted as cheating (Unfair Means)under the Exam Regulations A Foundation Year is taught atLevel 3 the same as A-Level we therefore adopt the guideline
10
34 Misc
similar to of the Joint Council for Qualifications1 (the industrybody that represents the A-Level exam boards)
Specifically that in examinations calculators
bull Must not include these functions
ndash Language translators
ndash Symbolic algebra manipulation
ndash Symbolic differentiation or integration
ndash Graphical plotting
ndash Connect to the internet or other machines
bull Must not include retrievable information (eg mathemati-cal formulae text etc)
bull Any programmable memory must be erasable and shouldbe erased prior to the start of any exam
Notes
bull Standard calculator memory is allowed (the standard MMR M+ functions but this must be empty before anyexam begins)
bull Physical constants and unit conversion are allowed solong as those constants and conversions are not user pro-grammable
bull For reference the CASIO FX-85GT Plus is the defaultcalculator that students on our maths degree have in thepast been issued with
34 Misc
bull Carrying stuff around in your bag or rucksack will result init getting batteredmdashbinders become worn holes in paperbecome pulled rulers become chipped Think about thisin advance Possibly leave the full binder in your accom-modation and use card folders to protect notes in transitbefore you file them in the evening Keep your ruler in thesheath that it came in Use a pencil case to keep loosepens pencils etc together
bull There are several stationary shops in town including WHSmiths Staples and Rymans However shop aroundmdashsome shops are decidedly cheaper than others We arescientists and engineers itrsquos functionality that mattersnot style
1As specified in Section 3 of the 2014-15 rsquoICErsquo (Instructions for conductingexaminations)
11
Chapter 4
Text Books
In this Chapter we run down the Course Texts for this Courseand look at other books that might be of relevance Please donot buy the Course Texts yourself These will be distributed toyou upon arrival (the cost is included in your fees)
Any A-Level Physics andor A-Level Maths text book will beuseful to you so bring any existing MathsPhysics books withyou The following Sections also include details of a few othertext books that students might find useful
41 Physics
411 Course Text Introduction to Physics
Introduction to Physics is a full-colour textbook that is linked toa website system called WileyPlus through which you can ac-cess additional resources and a full electronic text of the bookWe will be using WileyPlus as a means of setting assignmentsand homeworks based on material from the Course Text Thisis the book you will be given upon arrival
Full reference John D Cutnell et al (2015) Introduction toPhysics International Student Version 10th ed New JerseyJohn Wiley amp Sons ISBN 9781118651520
412 Additional Texts
bull Jim Breithaupt (2015) Physics 4th ed Basingstoke Pal-grave MacMillan ISBN 9781137443236
bull Gareth Kelly and Nigel Wood (2013) Mathematics for ALevel Physics A Course Companion Cheltenham Illu-minate Publishing
bull Roger Muncaster (1993) A-Level Physics 4th ed Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9780748715848
bull Carol Tear (2013) Maths Skills for A Level Physics Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9781408521205
Breithhauptrsquos Physics is a comparable physics text to Cutnellamp Johnson albeit more compact Muncasterrsquos A-Level Physicsremains a favourite among many A-Level Physics teachersand FE lecturers It can appear rather old school but it is clearprecise and waffle free Muncaster is a text that rewards stu-dents who are willing to study hard The two maths skills books(Kelly amp Woood and Tear) have been written to accompany themathematics that arise in A-Level equivalent Physics The fo-cus here is on the use of maths to solve Physics problemsmore than is on maths for the sake of maths These may beuseful to students who struggle with the application of mathe-matics to physics
42 Mathematics
421 Course Text Foundation Mathematics
Foundation Mathematics is an online only text that is accessi-ble via WileyPlus We will be using WileyPlus as a means ofsetting assignments and homeworks based on material fromthe Course Text Please be aware that a Browser pluging (Wol-framrsquos CDF player) may be necessary to access some contentfrom the bookmdashthese are illustrative applets only and will notimpact upon assessment This is the book you will be givenupon arrival
Full reference Colin Steele et al (2015) Foundation Math-ematics 1st ed New Jersey John Wiley amp Sons ISBN9781118500507
13
4 TEXT BOOKS
422 Additional Texts
bull David Snell et al (2003) Foundations of Advanced Math-ematics 2nd ed London Hodder Education ISBN9780340869260
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2004) Core 1 and 2for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548960
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2005) Core 3 and 4for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548977
Snell et al is an introductory textbook that covers maths ma-terial that spans intermediate-Tier GCSE Maths up to and in-cluding some material from AS-Level Mathematics This wasthe book we recommended for students who have done littleor no A-Level Mathematics before they arrived The Quadlingand Neill textbooks accompany the OCRrsquos A-Level Mathemat-ics We will be covering comparable material in our Mathe-matics Modules Students who take the advanced MAC mathsmodules will be supplied with these books if necessary
43 Study Skills
We will integrate general study skills into our Physics teachinghighlighting where certain skills are important and showcasinghow you can learn more To support this we have chosen agood all round study guide (listed below) as the Course TextThis will be given to you when you arrive at UCLan
Nevertheless there are other books available (including anextensive range from Palgrave) These may be of interest tostudents who know that they have faced study problems in thepast or who are new to studying in a more academic and lessvocational manner
431 Course Text Study Skills For ScienceEngineering amp Technology Students
Itrsquos blurb describes it as an ldquoaccessible student-friendly hand-book that covers all of the essential study skills that will ensureyou get the most out of your Science Engineering or Technol-ogy courserdquo A good all round book that covers academic andpersonal skills We will be using sections from this book as thebasis for some of your skills sessions This is the book you willbe given upon arrival
Full reference Pat Maier Anna Barney and Geraldine Price(2009) Study Skills for Science Engineering and TechnologyStudents Harlow Pearson ISBN 9780273720737
432 Additional Texts
bull Stella Cottrell (2013) The Study Skills Handbook 4th edBasingstroke Palgrave MacMillan ISBN 978113728925
bull David Sands (2004) Studying Physics BasingstrokePalgrave MacMillan ISBN 9781403903280
Stellar Cottrell has established herself as one of the leadingauthors in the field of Study Skills and The Study Skills Hand-book is her flagship volume It contains a lot of practical guidesand information about how to successfully manage your stud-ies Studying Physics describes itself as ldquoa unique guide tothe essential skills in physics you need to acquire by the timeyou graduaterdquo Although this book comes under the PalgraveStudy Skills banner it is really more of an academic text thanmany other Study Skills books It focuses more towards beinga reference text than a self-help one
14
Chapter 5
Frequently Asked Questions
51 Study Time
How much work should I do Courses at UCLan are de-signed with the expectation that students can achieve a suc-cessful result by studying for 10 hours for each credit they needto achieve This includes attendance at UCLan and time spentin private study
Your modules are all worth 20 credits so you should ex-pect to do a minimum of 200 study hours for each of themThat 200-hours contains 3 hours per week of class contacttime (approximately 70 hours) The remaining will be under-taken by you as self-study support work in readiness for theclasses and assessment time The module descriptors (avail-able on eLearn) include an indicative breakdown of how thestudy time may be divided between various activities suchas reviewing lectures trying practice questions and attempt-ing assessments
Do not underestimate the amount of work you need to do toachieve your potential As a rough guide there are about 31weeks in the teaching year (24 in-class weeks 2-3 revisionsweeks amp 4 exam weeks) Six modules at 200 hours per mod-ule equals 1200 hours Spread out over those 31 weeks thisequates to about 39 hours a week ie the same hours as afull time job
Why am I having to work harder do less work than myfriends You may find yourselves having to work harder andput in more hours than some of your friends This is perfectlynatural and is a by-product of your individual experiences
Students who have done either maths or physics A-Levelmdashyou will have sat one or both of these before So even if youdid not get a high grade or only did one of the two you willstill have seen some of this material before That means youmay find yourself having to do less work and put in fewer hoursthan some of your friends Do not become smug There arestill plenty of ways to fail and over-confidence will be the routeto many of them
For a former PhysicsMaths A-Level student the route tosuccess is to use this year productively and to repair problemsthat occurred during your A-Levels Maintain your studies Ifyou slack-off your skills will become unpracticed and you willbe knocked sideways once we get to the really difficult materialin Semester Two
Everybody elsemdashthe disadvantage that you face is that youwill not have seen as much of the material as the former A-Level students Nevertheless some of our best students wereBTEC students who committed themselves from the outsetand ended-up with higher grades than most A-Level students
Ultimately you are trying to learn in one year what it takesmost students two-years to learn The only way for you to suc-ceed is to embrace that challenge
52 Results and Progression
Do I get a separate certificate or qualification for complet-ing the Foundation Year No the Foundation Year is onlythe first year of a longer degree The qualification is that finaldegree certificate
Does the Foundation Year count towards my degreeaward No your average mark for the Foundation Year willonly determine whether you progress to Year One
Will I get a transcript of my results A Transcript lists themodules undertaken credit value and grades achieved duringeach academic session of study The overall result obtainedwill also be indicated You will receive a transcript upon thesuccessful completion of your programme of study
That means you will not automatically receive a paper tran-script at the end of the Foundation Year as your course (thefull degree) has not yet finished Your official module resultsthose accepted by the Assessment Boards will be availableon myUCLan
Please see the Certificates and Awards webpage formore information You may wish to contact Awardcere-moniesuclanacuk if you have a particular need for a papertranscript
I think Irsquom going to fail what should I do We cannot es-cape the unfortunate fact that not every student on this yearwill progress onto Year One of their chosen degree There areacademic standards for progression (the move from one yearof study to the next) that you must meet Failure to meet thosegrades may result in you having to change to a different courseor potentially leave University after only one year
15
5 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Doing well in these skills is merely a measurement of a sin-gle aptitude It is never a measurement of a personrsquos worth ortheir potential in a different field it may just be that your ap-titudes lie elsewhere Struggling against something that youmay not be suited to can in some circumstances lead to anxi-ety and depression
Please do not be frightened in confronting this before theend of the course Your academic adviser can offer guidancethe student support service has a confidential Counseling Ser-vice for anybody feeling overwhelmed and UCLanrsquos careersservices can all help you evaluate the larger picture
16
Chapter 6
Student Finance
In this chapter we look at how your fees will be used and pro-vide guidelines for typical living costs for students in Preston
61 Tuition Fees
Your tuition fees include
bull Scheduled course tuition academic technical and ad-ministrative support use of course equipment and facil-ities
bull Course related induction activities
bull Placement year academic support (where the course in-cludes a placement year)
bull Course assessment and awards
bull Access to the universityrsquos library and online resourcesincluding on-campus wifi networked and remote accessto the universityrsquos virtual learning environment
bull Use of the universityrsquos estate and resources for scheduledactivities and learning support
bull Dissertation project andor thesis printing and bindingwhere the submission of printed and bound documentsis a requirement for assessment of the module
bull Use of the universityrsquos technical equipment and materialsidentified by the course teaching team as essential for thecompletion of the course
bull The extra items listed against your course in Table 61below
62 Living costs
Living costs are not included in your tuition fees You will needto budget for these separately Table 62 includes an indicationof some typical living costs but everyone is different and youare strongly advised to plan your own budget
You may also need to budget for ldquoone offrdquo or irregular costsTable 63 contains a representative list
63 Additional Costs
There are some costs that may be incurred by some but not allstudents and are not included within the Tuition Fees Theseare listed in Table 64
64 Student Finance
If you are dealing with agencies like Student Finance pleaseremember to tell them the full duration of your course TheFoundation Year adds an additional year to the BScBEng de-grees and MPhysMEng degrees making them 4-years and 5-years long respectively
UCLanrsquos Student Finance Support Team are available to ad-vise you on any problems and can provide short term emer-gency loans in some cases
17
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 61 Table of items included in Student Fees
Course Additional items included in the tuition fees for yourcourse
Foundation Year for Courses covered by this Hand-book
Compulsory text books (see Chapter 4)
BSc (Hons) Robotics EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering
IET Membership
BSc (Hons) Physics years 1 2 and 3 Frontier Education events
BSc (Hons) Motorsports Engineering years 1 2 and 3 Imech E Student RegistrationFormula Student
MPhys (Hons) AstrophysicsBEng (Hons) Computer Aided EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic EngineeringBSc (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringBSc (Hons) Motorsports EngineeringBSc (Hons) PhysicsBSc (Hons) Robotics Engineering
Compulsory text books in year one
18
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Contents
II Course Operation 21
7 Communication 2371 Methods of Communication 2372 The Student Voice 2573 Course Representatives and School Presidents 2574 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC) 2675 Complaints 26
8 Teaching 2781 Expertise of Staff 2782 Teaching Methods 2783 Lectures 2784 Tutorials 2785 Teaching Spaces 2886 Study Support 2987 Learning Information Services 29
9 Assessment 3191 Assessment Principles 3192 Assessment Methods 3193 Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements 3194 Feedback 3295 Extensions and late submissions 3296 Quality Assurance 3397 Classification of Awards 3398 Extenuating Circumstances 3499 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP) 34910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation 35
10 Attendance and Engagement 37101 Attendance is Important 37102 Student Attendance Monitoring 37103 Procedure for non-engagement 38104 International Students 38105 Prolonged Absence 39
11 Student Support and Guidance 41111 Academic Advisers 41112 The lt i gt 41113 The Studentsrsquo Union 41114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties 41115 The Careers Service 42
12 Health And Well-Being 43121 Conduct 43122 Health and Safety 43123 Data Protection and Confidentiality 44124 Fitness to Study Procedure 44
A Physics FYE Programme Specification 45
B Engineering FYE Programme Specification 49
iii
Part I
Induction amp Orientation
1
Chapter 1
Introduction
11 Headrsquos Welcome
Welcome to the Schoolof Physical Sciences andComputing (PSC) andcongratulations on being ac-cepted on the programme
I am delighted that youhave chosen to enrol onthe Physics and Engineer-ing Foundation ProgrammeWe will endeavour to pro-vide you with an outstandingexperience of higher educa-tion by continuously improv-ing this course through your
feedback year on year We are aware that you have made adecision that affects your future career and we can assure youthat we will work hard to meet your aspirations However wealso expect that you will commit sufficient time and efforts toacquire and apply the knowledge and experience required tosucceed in your field of study
I trust that you will find your experience enjoyable and re-warding In the meantime if you have any queries or concernsI would advise you to contact your course leader at the earliestpossible opportunity
Dr Stewart EyresHead of School of Physical Sciences and ComputingTwitter astrostewey
3
Chapter 2
Course Structure and Overview
This Chapter covers the central concepts of Higher Educationand how they apply to this Course We start by looking at therational and aims of the course upon which you are enrolledbefore covering how the course is organised administrativelyand academically We then look at how you can access yourweekly time table the structure of the academic year and fi-nally at progressionmdashhow we manage transition into the nextyear of your studies
21 Rationale and Aims
A Foundation Year is the first year of a full time four-year Bachelor (BScBEng) or five-year integrated Masters(MPhysMEng) degree You will often find the Foundation Yearreferred to as ldquoYear Zerordquo as it comes before ldquoYear Onerdquo of theshorter versions of those degrees The aim of this year asdescribed in the Physics amp Engineering Programme Specifica-tions is to ldquosupply the necessary expertise and experiencerdquorequired for new students to enter a range of Physics or Engi-neering degrees when ldquothey do not already possess the nec-essary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do sordquo
The aims of this Year will be realised by providing you witha ldquobackground and experiencerdquo in physics and mathematicalmethods that is broadly equivalent to a student who has ful-filled the entry requirements (nominally A2 level in Physics ampMaths) The syllabus is designed to be comparable to A-LevelMaths and Physics albeit in a form that can be taught full-timeover 24 weeks
Table 21 lists the Degree Courses that are fed by thePhysicsEngineering Foundation Year These Degree Coursesare from two separate Schools the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing (PSC) and the School of Engineer-ing Both of these Schools are part of the College of Scienceand Technology This year is mainly taught by staff from theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI httpwwwstaruclanacuk) within the PSC The first column of Table 21 lists theDegree Title the second and third columns list the respectiveprogramme codes (unique idents used for paperwork) for therelevant FYE Bachelor and Masters Degrees
This particular Handbook covers the Foundation Year por-tion of your degrees Students should consult the Handbooksfor their individual degree courses for information about YearOne and later employment opportunities the degree accredi-tation and other matters relating to those professions Those
Handbooks will be available from the separate School areason eLearn Blackboard
22 Enrolment and Induction
There will be a Welcome Week prior to the start of teachingAll students are expected to attend the Welcome Week andthe InductionOrientation events that are arranged during thatweek It is important that students complete their online enrol-ment as early as possible
Please make sure you are issued with a UCLan StudentID Card and a University e-mail address You will need theID card to access the library prove your identity and to scanin (prove attendance) at all teaching events The e-mail ad-dress is your key to accessing almost all online material foryour course including teaching materials online assessmentnotices from the Administrative Hub and your electronic timetable
Please see the information in the Welcome e-mails from theAdmissions staff and the Check-list on the Welcome to UCLanwebpage During the Welcome Week help for almost all even-tualities is available from The lt i gt on the Ground Floor of theUCLan Library
23 Tutors and Leads
Whilst you are at UCLan it will be your Academic Adviserand the Year Tutor who deal with matters involving attendancemonitoring initial welfare counselling and programme adviceThey will usually be your first point of contact in many mattersThe role of the Academic Adviser is to act as a liaison betweenyourself and the University The Year Tutors coordinate mattersacross the Year The Year Tutor for Physics is Dr Jason Kirk(JMKirkuclanacuk) while the Year Tutor for Engineering isDr Stephen Kirkup (SMKirkupuclanacuk)
Columns 4 and 5 of Table 21 list the Course Leaders andAcademic Leads for each of the named Degree CoursesCourse Leaders coordinate matters including the delivery andassessment of modules across all years of specific DegreeCourses Academic Leads coordinate matters including aca-demic quality and discipline across a set of related subjectsYou may be referred to these Leads if matters are serious
5
2 COURSE STRUCTURE AND OVERVIEW
Table 21 Table of Foundation Entry Courses that are taught using some or all of the APC80x modules The first columnlists the course title The middle columns list the programme codes for the 4-year Bachelor (BScBEng) and 5-year Masters(MPhysMEngMMath) courses The final two columns list the Course Leader and relevant Academic Lead for each Course
FYE Course Title Y0 Programme Code Course Lead Academic Lead
Bachelor Masters
School of Physical Sciences amp Computing (Head Stew Eyres)
Applied Physics ULAPPH111 ULAPPH112 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Astrophysics ULASPH100 ULASPH111 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Physics With Astro ULPWAS111 ULPWAS112 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Physics ULPHCS100 ULPHCS111 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
School of Engineering (Dean Rob Wallace)
Aerospace Engineering ULAERO110 ULAERO111 Dominic Diston Martin Varley
Architectural Engineering ULAREN111 ULAREN110 Martin Varley
Building Services and SustainableEnergy Engineering
ULBSSE110 Martin Varley
Computer Aided Engineering ULCAEB110 ULCAEB111 Matt Dickinson Martin Varley
Electronic Engineering ULELEN110 ULELEN111 Stephen Sigurnjak Martin Varley
Energy Engineering ULENER110 ULENER111 Martin Varley
Fire Engineering ULFIRE110 ULFIRE111 Martin Varley
Mechanical Engineering ULMECH110 ULMECH111 Justin Whitty Martin Varley
Motor Sports Engineering ULMSEN110 ULMSEN111 Graham Calderbank Martin Varley
Oil and Gas Safety Engineering Martin Varley
Robotics Engineering ULROBO110 ULROBO111 Stephen Mein Martin Varley
Table 22 Table of Administrative Details for each School
Subject E-Mail Address Location
PhysicsAstronomy Fosterhubuclanacuk Foster Admin Hub
Engineering mdash mdash
enough Do not underestimate this escalation as it can andwill result in withdrawal where necessary
From time to time you will be asked to communicate withthe Campus Administrative Service This is the administrationservice that deals with the academic paperwork for the Col-lege Campus Administrative Services are divided into a setof large Hubs that are distributed across the Preston campusTable 22 lists the locations dedicated e-mail addresses
24 The Academic Year
The Academic Year runs from September to August and is di-vided into overlapping terms and semesters Key dates for the2015-16 Academic Year are reproduced in Table 23 Termsare continuous periods of teaching between the major va-cations and are mainly are used for financial matters (figur-
ing maintenance loan payments student fees etc) Term 1runs from the Welcome Week until Christmas Term 2 runsfrom Christmas until Easter and Term 3 runs after EasterSemesters are used for academic matters (modules teachingand examinations) They normally conclude with dedicatedweeks for revision and examinations Semester One runs fromthe Welcome Week until the January exams Semester Tworuns from the end of January until the main May exams All un-dergraduate teaching is contained within Semesters One andTwo Semester Three runs over the summer and is not usedfor undergraduate teaching
All students must attend from the start of induction for theiryear group up to the end of the exams held during the Univer-sityrsquos Central Examination Weeks The exact usage of eachweek by the Teaching Team is specified in the AssessmentSchedule (available on eLearn Blackboard) If you need re-
6
26 Time Table
Table 23 Table of key dates in the 2015-16 AcademicCalendar See the Academic Year webpages (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyacademic_calendarphp)for a fuller breakdown and printable year chart
Date Event
14 Sep 2015 Welcome WeekTerm 1 begins
21 Sep 2015 Semester 1Teaching begins
11 Dec 2015 Term 1 ends
14 Dec 2015 Semester break begins
1 Jan 2016 Semester break ends
4 Jan 2016 Term 2 begins
22 Jan 2016 Semester 1 ends
25 Jan 2016 Semester 2 begins
18 Mar 2016 Term 2 ends
4 Apr 2016 Term 3 begins
20 May 2016 Semester 2Term 3 ends
23 May 2016 Semester 3 begins
26 Aug 2016 Semester 3 ends
assessment it is your responsibility to ensure that you are ableto meet the coursework reassessment deadline set (normallyin the third week of August) and that you are available to attendfor any summer resit examinations Absence due to a familyholiday or similar cause is not accepted as a reason for notattending resits or examinations at any time
25 Modules
The taught material on University courses is divided into Mod-ules discrete learning blocks that are led by a named ModuleLeader Other tutors may lecture or provide tutorial supportbut it is the module leader who is responsible for the assess-ment and content of that module Each module counts for adifferent number of credits Full time study counts as a collec-tion of modules that add up to a total of 120 credits For thiscourse each module counts for 20 credits
The list of modules for this Year can be found in Table 24A complete list of UCLan modules can be found in the OnlineModule Catalogue The list of modules you will study in lateryears can be found in the Course Handbooks for your individ-ual degree courses
Modules will differ in their pattern of assessment but theeventual result with be a percentage grade between 0 and100 A module is considered as ldquopassedrdquo if your grade init is greater than or equal to 40 The credits are only countedif the module is passed at the aforementioned 40 level
Taught material on the course is divided equally betweenphysics and mathematics All students on the Course will takethe same set of three physics modules (APC801 802 and803) These run for the full duration of the year The math-ematics modules are split into two sets Most students will
take the three APC mathematics modules (APC804 5 and 6)these contain equivalent material as A-Level Maths Core 1-4APC804 runs for the first half of the course while APC805 runsfor the second half
If a student has a particular interest in doing a ldquofree-choiceelectiverdquo such as a language as a seventh module it may bepossible for this to be studied as a University Certificate along-side the main course This should be discussed with your Aca-demic Adviser because of the workload implications
26 Time Table
The University uses a single online time tabling system Youwill be able to access your personalised time table via the Stu-dent Portal The online timetable will be updated for roomchanges cancellations and other changes and should bechecked every day for the latest information Changes to thetimetable will be pushed out to the online time table This syn-chronises with the monitors that are outside of each teachingroom and the larger screens that are at the main entrance toeach building
The Foundation Year provides a mix of teaching methodssuch as lectures laboratory work tutorials and seminars Astudent may expect an average of 18 hours per week of con-tact time A typical year-long lecture module has an averageof 3 hours per week of contact time Note that depending oncohort size students may be allocated into pairs or groups forthe laboratory work or tutorials You must attend the tutorial orlab at the time allocated to your group and you cannot changewithout prior permission from the module tutor
Occasionally students will be required to attend rearrangedclasses or extra tutorials at times or on days when they donot normally have classes Students should not commit them-selves to part time jobs that conflict with the academic require-ments of their course Wednesday afternoons are traditionallyleft unscheduled at British Universities to allow for undergrad-uate sporting fixtures and social events
27 Results
Module results are released on myUCLan Final modulemarks are released after the end of Semester 2 on the lastMonday of June In 2016 this is the 27th of June
28 Progression
Progression is the process whereby a student satisfactorilycompletes one year of study and progresses on to the nextyear of their course Discussions about your progressionthrough the course normally take place in February each yearIt is an opportunity for you to make plans for your study overthe next academic year The Course Team will tell you aboutthe various modules combinations available and you will bothagree on the most appropriate (and legal) course of study foryou
All modules must be passed in order for a student toprogress The Foundation Year is designed to provide you withthe minimum required knowledge of physics and mathematics
7
2 COURSE STRUCTURE AND OVERVIEW
Table 24 Available modules on the PhysicsEngineering Foundation Year Column 1 lists the module code column 2 lists themodule title The last column lists whether the module is taught in a single semester or in both semesters (Year Long)
Module Code Module Title Delivery
APC801 Introduction to University Physics Year Long
APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields Year Long
APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics Year Long
APC804 Mathematical Methods Semester One
APC805 Further Mathematical Methods Semester Two
APC806 Graphs and Vectors Year Long
to be able to enter the BScBEng programmes Therefore sim-ply passing all modules at 40 will not adequately prepare youfor student in the first year of the degree programme
281 Progression Criteria
In order to ensure a student can cope with the academic con-tent in Year 1 it has been determined that the following pro-gression criteria will apply
Automatic Admission
Physics Year One 120 credits and an average percentagemark (APM) of at least 60 across all modules allowsthe option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of thePhysicsAstrophysics degree programmes
Engineering Year One 120 credits and an average percent-age mark (APM) of at least 50 across all modules al-lows option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of theEngineering degree programmes
Discretionary Admission
The Course Assessment Boards will consider students for ad-mission with 120 credits and with an APM that is up to 10points below the APM for their respective course (ie 50for Physics 40 for Engineering) Students may be asked toundertake reassessment designed to raise their APM to a levelrequested by the Course Board
Alternative Admission
Students who achieve 120 credits and an APM of at least 40and who are not admitted to a PhysicsEngineering degreemay be offered admission to another degree programme atthe University of Central Lancashire
29 Further Information
291 UCLan Official Web-pages
The following are a few of the public facing UCLan webpagesthat might be useful to you
bull Welcome to UCLan (httpwwwuclanacukstudentsstudynewphp) This is the Welcome pageon uclanacuk that all new students are directed tobefore they arrive This will include check-lists of thingsto do before and during your Welcome here
bull Guide to Student Regulations (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsliferules_regsphp) This page in-cludes the Regulations for the Conduct of Students
bull Academic Regulations (httpwwwuclanacukaqasuacademic_regulationsphp) This page in-cludes the most up to date copies of both the UCLanAcademic Regulations which state how courses andmodules are regulated and the Assessment Handbookwhich details the principles under which assessment isconducted
bull Student Support (httpswwwuclanacukstudents) The central hub for Student Supportwebpages at UCLan Including advise on student lifehealth amp well-being finances study issues and muchmore
bull Academic Calendar (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyacademic_calendarphp) This pagecontains the most up to date version of the UCLanAcademic Calendar
Most student information including the teaching material oneLearn Blackboard and the sources above can be accessedfrom the Student Portal (httpsportaluclanacuk) us-ing your UCLan e-mail user-name and password Additionallystudents can review their enrolment personal details and aca-demic record via the myUCLan online service
292 Independent Sources
bull UCLan SU (httpwwwuclansucouk) The websiteof UCLanrsquos Student Union The Union is able to offer trulyindependent advice to you as it is controlled by the Stu-dent Body not by the University itself
bull Pluto (httppluto-onlinecom) Pluto is the Inde-pendent UCLan Student Newspaper It contains newsstories about Student Life both here and around the coun-try
8
Chapter 3
Before You Arrive
In this chapter we look at the things you bring to Universityndash ideally things you should know and things you should haveprocured You may have received a leaflet and letter aboutmathematics preparation after you accepted the offer to studyon this Course The revision section below replicates the rec-ommendations and resources from that leaflet After that welook at the basic stationary that you will need for your Courseand describe the type of calculator you should have
31 Revision
311 Necessary Skills
Mathematics is a key skill that you will have to develop duringyour time on the Course and it is vitally important that you areup to speed with the full range of GCSE (including Intermedi-ate and Higher tier) Mathematics before you start
Skills and topics that you should ideally be comfortable withinclude
Basic numeracy Including the use of directed (negative)numbers fractions (adding multiplying etc) surds in-dices order of operations highest common factors per-centages significant figures ratios etc
Algebra You should be able to manipulate basic algebraicequations including factorizing of simple quadratics mak-ing a quantity the subject of a formula repeating normalnumerical actions (multiplication factions indices factor-izing) with algebra
Trigonometry The area and angles of a triangle applicationof sine cosine and tangent simple vectors and vectoraddition
Graphs Plotting an xy graph how the equation y = mx +c relates to a straight line how algebraic equations(quadratics etc) can be plotted on such a graph
We will be testing these in the diagnostic test during WelcomeWeek and will offer some remedial help at the start of termHowever your entry into University will be a lot more fun andless stressful if you have got this sorted before you turn up
312 Revision Resources
There are two main resources that we recommend for appli-cants who are having to bring their mathematical skills up tothe level described above The first is a textbook that ac-companies a standalone qualification called the ldquoFoundationsof Mathematicsrdquo and the second is a free website called theldquoKhan Academyrdquo
Foundations of Advanced Mathematics 2nd Edition
This book is the best possible benchmark for the mathematicselement at the start of this course If you revise and practiceeverything contained in this book you will be well equipped totackle the material at the start of the Foundation Year It willget harder but this will give you an excellent head start
This book accompanies a standalone qualification that is de-signed to take a student from intermediate tier GCSE to thestart of AS Level maths While we do not recommend youtake the actual qualification the revision and teaching materi-als available for it are recommended You may also find thesematerials useful if you are studying mathematics for a currentnon-A Level qualification
Full Reference David Snell et al (2003) Foundations ofAdvanced Mathematics 2nd ed London Hodder EducationISBN 9780340869260
Khan Academy
wwwkhanacademyorgThis website is a good online study resource It was put to-
gether by Salman Khan a former hedge fund analyst who re-alized that there was no good free resource for people wantingto learn mathematics The Academy works on a challenge-and-response principle As you attempt problems it noticeswhere you are succeeding and failing and shows you morechallenging material or additional tutorials as necessary
You can spend as little or as much time on there as youwish mdash either to brush up a skill or as the main focus of yourrevision You may even find its format addictive For thosewanting to use the Academy as their main revision route wewould suggest that you take either of the following subjects
The World of Math This gives a broad overview of mathe-matics and includes elementary material where neces-sary wwwkhanacademyorgmath
9
3 BEFORE YOU ARRIVE
Algebra Basics This is a set of materials specifically put to-gether in preparation for US university entrance examswwwkhanacademyorgmathalgebra-basics
313 Additional Resources
There are several additional resources that may be useful toyou Some are free some are not
Bridging GCSE and A-Level Maths by Mark RowlandPublished by Collins ISBN 978-0-00-741023-1 Thisbook covers what you should know from GCSE andindicates where that will lead to at A Level It is about 160pages long with 80 pages of examples and referencesfollowed by 80 pages of problems This may not be souseful if you are too rusty on the GCSE parts
GCSE to A level Jump wwwm4thscomindexphpp=1_12 This website discusses the transition to A-Leveland includes links to several useful resources Werecommend you have a look at the self-audit sheets asthese give good examples of what yoursquoll be facing onyour course
Step UP To A-Level Maths wwwcimtplymouthacukprojectsmepresstep-updefaulthtm This websitelists the skills yoursquoll need to study maths at A-Level andalso includes chapters from a GCSE textbook
Maths Centre wwwmathcentreacuk This site deliverssupport materials (videos and PDF worksheets) free ofcharge to students lecturers and everyone looking forpost-16 maths help
The Jump wwwm4thscomgcse-to-a-level-bridgehtml This is a series of videos that were prepared byM4ths founder Steve Blades There are 30 videos intotal and the first 20 are on YouTube and are linked tofrom Steversquos website
YouTube You will find that there are a lot of helpful videos onYouTube If you get stuck on a topic try a YouTube searchand yoursquoll usually find videos from high school teachersand sometimes university lecturers who have put theirlessons online
32 Stationary
Supplying basic day-to-day style equipment such as pens pa-per and calculators is a studentrsquos responsibility How studentsorganize their work can be highly individualistic Neverthelessit is recommended that all students invest in some basic sta-tionary and something that will allow them to organize the sur-prisingly large amount of paper that will be generated duringtheir studies
The following should be considered as the minimum recom-mended set of equipment
Pens Always make sure that you have got at least one sparepen with youmdashespecially in exams Just as in school weask that students use either blue or black ink during as-sessment Red ink is usually reserved for marking greenink for moderation
Pencil eraser pencil sharpener The received wisdom isthat students use pen for writing and pencil for everythingelse (sketching graphs drawing diagrams etc)
Paper Students have to supply their own paper However theUniversity will provide paper in exams Do not be afraidof using a lot of paper and do not cram too much writingonto a single sheet It is often useful to be able to addnotes or annotations around whatever you have written
Filing You generally have two options here You can eitheruse bound notebooksmdashone per subjectmdashor you can fileloose paper in a binder Both techniques allows you toseparate your notes into different topicslectures
Ruler You will have to draw graphs and diagrams It is veryprobable that you are not Leonard Da Vinci and thus can-not draw an immaculate line free hand Thus a ruler willbe essential
Stapler (and staples)paper clips Something to keep yourlose papers together when they are not in your filing sys-tem Pages of an assignment should always be attachedtogethermdashit is your responsibility to make sure that sub-mitted assignments are in a condition where pages can-not become separated (quite easy when everybodyrsquoswork is piled together)
33 Calculators
In time you will learn to estimate the answers to most calcu-lations on the ldquoback of an enveloperdquo However until then youwill need to use a calculator or app It should be able to handlebasic trigonometry functions (sin cos tan) and their inversespowers (x2
radicx xy) logarithms (base 10 and natural) sci-
entific notation and the ability to work in radians as well asdegrees
If you studied A-Level Maths the calculator you had for thatwill be adequate Good calculator apps are also available onmost computer and mobile phone platforms (eg RealCalc onAndroid Applersquos Calculator for OS X and iOS Windows Cal-culator etc) However phone apps cannot be used in examsand some lecturers may object to you having your phone outin tutorials
We do not prescribe which type of calculator you should useoutside of exam times However you should avoid models thatare too advanced as you will not be able to take them intoexams (see below) A calculator is merely a tool that speedsup a process it will avail you little if you do not first understandthat process It is your responsibility to know how to use yourown calculator
Calculators will be allowed in some exams and youshould bring one to those exams Mobile phones and theirapps are not allowed in exam halls Calculators may not beallowed in some exams particularly those focusing on puremathematics You should check with the Module Leader asto whether a calculator is allowed in the examination for theirModule
Misuse of a calculator is counted as cheating (Unfair Means)under the Exam Regulations A Foundation Year is taught atLevel 3 the same as A-Level we therefore adopt the guideline
10
34 Misc
similar to of the Joint Council for Qualifications1 (the industrybody that represents the A-Level exam boards)
Specifically that in examinations calculators
bull Must not include these functions
ndash Language translators
ndash Symbolic algebra manipulation
ndash Symbolic differentiation or integration
ndash Graphical plotting
ndash Connect to the internet or other machines
bull Must not include retrievable information (eg mathemati-cal formulae text etc)
bull Any programmable memory must be erasable and shouldbe erased prior to the start of any exam
Notes
bull Standard calculator memory is allowed (the standard MMR M+ functions but this must be empty before anyexam begins)
bull Physical constants and unit conversion are allowed solong as those constants and conversions are not user pro-grammable
bull For reference the CASIO FX-85GT Plus is the defaultcalculator that students on our maths degree have in thepast been issued with
34 Misc
bull Carrying stuff around in your bag or rucksack will result init getting batteredmdashbinders become worn holes in paperbecome pulled rulers become chipped Think about thisin advance Possibly leave the full binder in your accom-modation and use card folders to protect notes in transitbefore you file them in the evening Keep your ruler in thesheath that it came in Use a pencil case to keep loosepens pencils etc together
bull There are several stationary shops in town including WHSmiths Staples and Rymans However shop aroundmdashsome shops are decidedly cheaper than others We arescientists and engineers itrsquos functionality that mattersnot style
1As specified in Section 3 of the 2014-15 rsquoICErsquo (Instructions for conductingexaminations)
11
Chapter 4
Text Books
In this Chapter we run down the Course Texts for this Courseand look at other books that might be of relevance Please donot buy the Course Texts yourself These will be distributed toyou upon arrival (the cost is included in your fees)
Any A-Level Physics andor A-Level Maths text book will beuseful to you so bring any existing MathsPhysics books withyou The following Sections also include details of a few othertext books that students might find useful
41 Physics
411 Course Text Introduction to Physics
Introduction to Physics is a full-colour textbook that is linked toa website system called WileyPlus through which you can ac-cess additional resources and a full electronic text of the bookWe will be using WileyPlus as a means of setting assignmentsand homeworks based on material from the Course Text Thisis the book you will be given upon arrival
Full reference John D Cutnell et al (2015) Introduction toPhysics International Student Version 10th ed New JerseyJohn Wiley amp Sons ISBN 9781118651520
412 Additional Texts
bull Jim Breithaupt (2015) Physics 4th ed Basingstoke Pal-grave MacMillan ISBN 9781137443236
bull Gareth Kelly and Nigel Wood (2013) Mathematics for ALevel Physics A Course Companion Cheltenham Illu-minate Publishing
bull Roger Muncaster (1993) A-Level Physics 4th ed Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9780748715848
bull Carol Tear (2013) Maths Skills for A Level Physics Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9781408521205
Breithhauptrsquos Physics is a comparable physics text to Cutnellamp Johnson albeit more compact Muncasterrsquos A-Level Physicsremains a favourite among many A-Level Physics teachersand FE lecturers It can appear rather old school but it is clearprecise and waffle free Muncaster is a text that rewards stu-dents who are willing to study hard The two maths skills books(Kelly amp Woood and Tear) have been written to accompany themathematics that arise in A-Level equivalent Physics The fo-cus here is on the use of maths to solve Physics problemsmore than is on maths for the sake of maths These may beuseful to students who struggle with the application of mathe-matics to physics
42 Mathematics
421 Course Text Foundation Mathematics
Foundation Mathematics is an online only text that is accessi-ble via WileyPlus We will be using WileyPlus as a means ofsetting assignments and homeworks based on material fromthe Course Text Please be aware that a Browser pluging (Wol-framrsquos CDF player) may be necessary to access some contentfrom the bookmdashthese are illustrative applets only and will notimpact upon assessment This is the book you will be givenupon arrival
Full reference Colin Steele et al (2015) Foundation Math-ematics 1st ed New Jersey John Wiley amp Sons ISBN9781118500507
13
4 TEXT BOOKS
422 Additional Texts
bull David Snell et al (2003) Foundations of Advanced Math-ematics 2nd ed London Hodder Education ISBN9780340869260
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2004) Core 1 and 2for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548960
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2005) Core 3 and 4for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548977
Snell et al is an introductory textbook that covers maths ma-terial that spans intermediate-Tier GCSE Maths up to and in-cluding some material from AS-Level Mathematics This wasthe book we recommended for students who have done littleor no A-Level Mathematics before they arrived The Quadlingand Neill textbooks accompany the OCRrsquos A-Level Mathemat-ics We will be covering comparable material in our Mathe-matics Modules Students who take the advanced MAC mathsmodules will be supplied with these books if necessary
43 Study Skills
We will integrate general study skills into our Physics teachinghighlighting where certain skills are important and showcasinghow you can learn more To support this we have chosen agood all round study guide (listed below) as the Course TextThis will be given to you when you arrive at UCLan
Nevertheless there are other books available (including anextensive range from Palgrave) These may be of interest tostudents who know that they have faced study problems in thepast or who are new to studying in a more academic and lessvocational manner
431 Course Text Study Skills For ScienceEngineering amp Technology Students
Itrsquos blurb describes it as an ldquoaccessible student-friendly hand-book that covers all of the essential study skills that will ensureyou get the most out of your Science Engineering or Technol-ogy courserdquo A good all round book that covers academic andpersonal skills We will be using sections from this book as thebasis for some of your skills sessions This is the book you willbe given upon arrival
Full reference Pat Maier Anna Barney and Geraldine Price(2009) Study Skills for Science Engineering and TechnologyStudents Harlow Pearson ISBN 9780273720737
432 Additional Texts
bull Stella Cottrell (2013) The Study Skills Handbook 4th edBasingstroke Palgrave MacMillan ISBN 978113728925
bull David Sands (2004) Studying Physics BasingstrokePalgrave MacMillan ISBN 9781403903280
Stellar Cottrell has established herself as one of the leadingauthors in the field of Study Skills and The Study Skills Hand-book is her flagship volume It contains a lot of practical guidesand information about how to successfully manage your stud-ies Studying Physics describes itself as ldquoa unique guide tothe essential skills in physics you need to acquire by the timeyou graduaterdquo Although this book comes under the PalgraveStudy Skills banner it is really more of an academic text thanmany other Study Skills books It focuses more towards beinga reference text than a self-help one
14
Chapter 5
Frequently Asked Questions
51 Study Time
How much work should I do Courses at UCLan are de-signed with the expectation that students can achieve a suc-cessful result by studying for 10 hours for each credit they needto achieve This includes attendance at UCLan and time spentin private study
Your modules are all worth 20 credits so you should ex-pect to do a minimum of 200 study hours for each of themThat 200-hours contains 3 hours per week of class contacttime (approximately 70 hours) The remaining will be under-taken by you as self-study support work in readiness for theclasses and assessment time The module descriptors (avail-able on eLearn) include an indicative breakdown of how thestudy time may be divided between various activities suchas reviewing lectures trying practice questions and attempt-ing assessments
Do not underestimate the amount of work you need to do toachieve your potential As a rough guide there are about 31weeks in the teaching year (24 in-class weeks 2-3 revisionsweeks amp 4 exam weeks) Six modules at 200 hours per mod-ule equals 1200 hours Spread out over those 31 weeks thisequates to about 39 hours a week ie the same hours as afull time job
Why am I having to work harder do less work than myfriends You may find yourselves having to work harder andput in more hours than some of your friends This is perfectlynatural and is a by-product of your individual experiences
Students who have done either maths or physics A-Levelmdashyou will have sat one or both of these before So even if youdid not get a high grade or only did one of the two you willstill have seen some of this material before That means youmay find yourself having to do less work and put in fewer hoursthan some of your friends Do not become smug There arestill plenty of ways to fail and over-confidence will be the routeto many of them
For a former PhysicsMaths A-Level student the route tosuccess is to use this year productively and to repair problemsthat occurred during your A-Levels Maintain your studies Ifyou slack-off your skills will become unpracticed and you willbe knocked sideways once we get to the really difficult materialin Semester Two
Everybody elsemdashthe disadvantage that you face is that youwill not have seen as much of the material as the former A-Level students Nevertheless some of our best students wereBTEC students who committed themselves from the outsetand ended-up with higher grades than most A-Level students
Ultimately you are trying to learn in one year what it takesmost students two-years to learn The only way for you to suc-ceed is to embrace that challenge
52 Results and Progression
Do I get a separate certificate or qualification for complet-ing the Foundation Year No the Foundation Year is onlythe first year of a longer degree The qualification is that finaldegree certificate
Does the Foundation Year count towards my degreeaward No your average mark for the Foundation Year willonly determine whether you progress to Year One
Will I get a transcript of my results A Transcript lists themodules undertaken credit value and grades achieved duringeach academic session of study The overall result obtainedwill also be indicated You will receive a transcript upon thesuccessful completion of your programme of study
That means you will not automatically receive a paper tran-script at the end of the Foundation Year as your course (thefull degree) has not yet finished Your official module resultsthose accepted by the Assessment Boards will be availableon myUCLan
Please see the Certificates and Awards webpage formore information You may wish to contact Awardcere-moniesuclanacuk if you have a particular need for a papertranscript
I think Irsquom going to fail what should I do We cannot es-cape the unfortunate fact that not every student on this yearwill progress onto Year One of their chosen degree There areacademic standards for progression (the move from one yearof study to the next) that you must meet Failure to meet thosegrades may result in you having to change to a different courseor potentially leave University after only one year
15
5 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Doing well in these skills is merely a measurement of a sin-gle aptitude It is never a measurement of a personrsquos worth ortheir potential in a different field it may just be that your ap-titudes lie elsewhere Struggling against something that youmay not be suited to can in some circumstances lead to anxi-ety and depression
Please do not be frightened in confronting this before theend of the course Your academic adviser can offer guidancethe student support service has a confidential Counseling Ser-vice for anybody feeling overwhelmed and UCLanrsquos careersservices can all help you evaluate the larger picture
16
Chapter 6
Student Finance
In this chapter we look at how your fees will be used and pro-vide guidelines for typical living costs for students in Preston
61 Tuition Fees
Your tuition fees include
bull Scheduled course tuition academic technical and ad-ministrative support use of course equipment and facil-ities
bull Course related induction activities
bull Placement year academic support (where the course in-cludes a placement year)
bull Course assessment and awards
bull Access to the universityrsquos library and online resourcesincluding on-campus wifi networked and remote accessto the universityrsquos virtual learning environment
bull Use of the universityrsquos estate and resources for scheduledactivities and learning support
bull Dissertation project andor thesis printing and bindingwhere the submission of printed and bound documentsis a requirement for assessment of the module
bull Use of the universityrsquos technical equipment and materialsidentified by the course teaching team as essential for thecompletion of the course
bull The extra items listed against your course in Table 61below
62 Living costs
Living costs are not included in your tuition fees You will needto budget for these separately Table 62 includes an indicationof some typical living costs but everyone is different and youare strongly advised to plan your own budget
You may also need to budget for ldquoone offrdquo or irregular costsTable 63 contains a representative list
63 Additional Costs
There are some costs that may be incurred by some but not allstudents and are not included within the Tuition Fees Theseare listed in Table 64
64 Student Finance
If you are dealing with agencies like Student Finance pleaseremember to tell them the full duration of your course TheFoundation Year adds an additional year to the BScBEng de-grees and MPhysMEng degrees making them 4-years and 5-years long respectively
UCLanrsquos Student Finance Support Team are available to ad-vise you on any problems and can provide short term emer-gency loans in some cases
17
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 61 Table of items included in Student Fees
Course Additional items included in the tuition fees for yourcourse
Foundation Year for Courses covered by this Hand-book
Compulsory text books (see Chapter 4)
BSc (Hons) Robotics EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering
IET Membership
BSc (Hons) Physics years 1 2 and 3 Frontier Education events
BSc (Hons) Motorsports Engineering years 1 2 and 3 Imech E Student RegistrationFormula Student
MPhys (Hons) AstrophysicsBEng (Hons) Computer Aided EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic EngineeringBSc (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringBSc (Hons) Motorsports EngineeringBSc (Hons) PhysicsBSc (Hons) Robotics Engineering
Compulsory text books in year one
18
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Part I
Induction amp Orientation
1
Chapter 1
Introduction
11 Headrsquos Welcome
Welcome to the Schoolof Physical Sciences andComputing (PSC) andcongratulations on being ac-cepted on the programme
I am delighted that youhave chosen to enrol onthe Physics and Engineer-ing Foundation ProgrammeWe will endeavour to pro-vide you with an outstandingexperience of higher educa-tion by continuously improv-ing this course through your
feedback year on year We are aware that you have made adecision that affects your future career and we can assure youthat we will work hard to meet your aspirations However wealso expect that you will commit sufficient time and efforts toacquire and apply the knowledge and experience required tosucceed in your field of study
I trust that you will find your experience enjoyable and re-warding In the meantime if you have any queries or concernsI would advise you to contact your course leader at the earliestpossible opportunity
Dr Stewart EyresHead of School of Physical Sciences and ComputingTwitter astrostewey
3
Chapter 2
Course Structure and Overview
This Chapter covers the central concepts of Higher Educationand how they apply to this Course We start by looking at therational and aims of the course upon which you are enrolledbefore covering how the course is organised administrativelyand academically We then look at how you can access yourweekly time table the structure of the academic year and fi-nally at progressionmdashhow we manage transition into the nextyear of your studies
21 Rationale and Aims
A Foundation Year is the first year of a full time four-year Bachelor (BScBEng) or five-year integrated Masters(MPhysMEng) degree You will often find the Foundation Yearreferred to as ldquoYear Zerordquo as it comes before ldquoYear Onerdquo of theshorter versions of those degrees The aim of this year asdescribed in the Physics amp Engineering Programme Specifica-tions is to ldquosupply the necessary expertise and experiencerdquorequired for new students to enter a range of Physics or Engi-neering degrees when ldquothey do not already possess the nec-essary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do sordquo
The aims of this Year will be realised by providing you witha ldquobackground and experiencerdquo in physics and mathematicalmethods that is broadly equivalent to a student who has ful-filled the entry requirements (nominally A2 level in Physics ampMaths) The syllabus is designed to be comparable to A-LevelMaths and Physics albeit in a form that can be taught full-timeover 24 weeks
Table 21 lists the Degree Courses that are fed by thePhysicsEngineering Foundation Year These Degree Coursesare from two separate Schools the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing (PSC) and the School of Engineer-ing Both of these Schools are part of the College of Scienceand Technology This year is mainly taught by staff from theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI httpwwwstaruclanacuk) within the PSC The first column of Table 21 lists theDegree Title the second and third columns list the respectiveprogramme codes (unique idents used for paperwork) for therelevant FYE Bachelor and Masters Degrees
This particular Handbook covers the Foundation Year por-tion of your degrees Students should consult the Handbooksfor their individual degree courses for information about YearOne and later employment opportunities the degree accredi-tation and other matters relating to those professions Those
Handbooks will be available from the separate School areason eLearn Blackboard
22 Enrolment and Induction
There will be a Welcome Week prior to the start of teachingAll students are expected to attend the Welcome Week andthe InductionOrientation events that are arranged during thatweek It is important that students complete their online enrol-ment as early as possible
Please make sure you are issued with a UCLan StudentID Card and a University e-mail address You will need theID card to access the library prove your identity and to scanin (prove attendance) at all teaching events The e-mail ad-dress is your key to accessing almost all online material foryour course including teaching materials online assessmentnotices from the Administrative Hub and your electronic timetable
Please see the information in the Welcome e-mails from theAdmissions staff and the Check-list on the Welcome to UCLanwebpage During the Welcome Week help for almost all even-tualities is available from The lt i gt on the Ground Floor of theUCLan Library
23 Tutors and Leads
Whilst you are at UCLan it will be your Academic Adviserand the Year Tutor who deal with matters involving attendancemonitoring initial welfare counselling and programme adviceThey will usually be your first point of contact in many mattersThe role of the Academic Adviser is to act as a liaison betweenyourself and the University The Year Tutors coordinate mattersacross the Year The Year Tutor for Physics is Dr Jason Kirk(JMKirkuclanacuk) while the Year Tutor for Engineering isDr Stephen Kirkup (SMKirkupuclanacuk)
Columns 4 and 5 of Table 21 list the Course Leaders andAcademic Leads for each of the named Degree CoursesCourse Leaders coordinate matters including the delivery andassessment of modules across all years of specific DegreeCourses Academic Leads coordinate matters including aca-demic quality and discipline across a set of related subjectsYou may be referred to these Leads if matters are serious
5
2 COURSE STRUCTURE AND OVERVIEW
Table 21 Table of Foundation Entry Courses that are taught using some or all of the APC80x modules The first columnlists the course title The middle columns list the programme codes for the 4-year Bachelor (BScBEng) and 5-year Masters(MPhysMEngMMath) courses The final two columns list the Course Leader and relevant Academic Lead for each Course
FYE Course Title Y0 Programme Code Course Lead Academic Lead
Bachelor Masters
School of Physical Sciences amp Computing (Head Stew Eyres)
Applied Physics ULAPPH111 ULAPPH112 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Astrophysics ULASPH100 ULASPH111 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Physics With Astro ULPWAS111 ULPWAS112 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Physics ULPHCS100 ULPHCS111 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
School of Engineering (Dean Rob Wallace)
Aerospace Engineering ULAERO110 ULAERO111 Dominic Diston Martin Varley
Architectural Engineering ULAREN111 ULAREN110 Martin Varley
Building Services and SustainableEnergy Engineering
ULBSSE110 Martin Varley
Computer Aided Engineering ULCAEB110 ULCAEB111 Matt Dickinson Martin Varley
Electronic Engineering ULELEN110 ULELEN111 Stephen Sigurnjak Martin Varley
Energy Engineering ULENER110 ULENER111 Martin Varley
Fire Engineering ULFIRE110 ULFIRE111 Martin Varley
Mechanical Engineering ULMECH110 ULMECH111 Justin Whitty Martin Varley
Motor Sports Engineering ULMSEN110 ULMSEN111 Graham Calderbank Martin Varley
Oil and Gas Safety Engineering Martin Varley
Robotics Engineering ULROBO110 ULROBO111 Stephen Mein Martin Varley
Table 22 Table of Administrative Details for each School
Subject E-Mail Address Location
PhysicsAstronomy Fosterhubuclanacuk Foster Admin Hub
Engineering mdash mdash
enough Do not underestimate this escalation as it can andwill result in withdrawal where necessary
From time to time you will be asked to communicate withthe Campus Administrative Service This is the administrationservice that deals with the academic paperwork for the Col-lege Campus Administrative Services are divided into a setof large Hubs that are distributed across the Preston campusTable 22 lists the locations dedicated e-mail addresses
24 The Academic Year
The Academic Year runs from September to August and is di-vided into overlapping terms and semesters Key dates for the2015-16 Academic Year are reproduced in Table 23 Termsare continuous periods of teaching between the major va-cations and are mainly are used for financial matters (figur-
ing maintenance loan payments student fees etc) Term 1runs from the Welcome Week until Christmas Term 2 runsfrom Christmas until Easter and Term 3 runs after EasterSemesters are used for academic matters (modules teachingand examinations) They normally conclude with dedicatedweeks for revision and examinations Semester One runs fromthe Welcome Week until the January exams Semester Tworuns from the end of January until the main May exams All un-dergraduate teaching is contained within Semesters One andTwo Semester Three runs over the summer and is not usedfor undergraduate teaching
All students must attend from the start of induction for theiryear group up to the end of the exams held during the Univer-sityrsquos Central Examination Weeks The exact usage of eachweek by the Teaching Team is specified in the AssessmentSchedule (available on eLearn Blackboard) If you need re-
6
26 Time Table
Table 23 Table of key dates in the 2015-16 AcademicCalendar See the Academic Year webpages (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyacademic_calendarphp)for a fuller breakdown and printable year chart
Date Event
14 Sep 2015 Welcome WeekTerm 1 begins
21 Sep 2015 Semester 1Teaching begins
11 Dec 2015 Term 1 ends
14 Dec 2015 Semester break begins
1 Jan 2016 Semester break ends
4 Jan 2016 Term 2 begins
22 Jan 2016 Semester 1 ends
25 Jan 2016 Semester 2 begins
18 Mar 2016 Term 2 ends
4 Apr 2016 Term 3 begins
20 May 2016 Semester 2Term 3 ends
23 May 2016 Semester 3 begins
26 Aug 2016 Semester 3 ends
assessment it is your responsibility to ensure that you are ableto meet the coursework reassessment deadline set (normallyin the third week of August) and that you are available to attendfor any summer resit examinations Absence due to a familyholiday or similar cause is not accepted as a reason for notattending resits or examinations at any time
25 Modules
The taught material on University courses is divided into Mod-ules discrete learning blocks that are led by a named ModuleLeader Other tutors may lecture or provide tutorial supportbut it is the module leader who is responsible for the assess-ment and content of that module Each module counts for adifferent number of credits Full time study counts as a collec-tion of modules that add up to a total of 120 credits For thiscourse each module counts for 20 credits
The list of modules for this Year can be found in Table 24A complete list of UCLan modules can be found in the OnlineModule Catalogue The list of modules you will study in lateryears can be found in the Course Handbooks for your individ-ual degree courses
Modules will differ in their pattern of assessment but theeventual result with be a percentage grade between 0 and100 A module is considered as ldquopassedrdquo if your grade init is greater than or equal to 40 The credits are only countedif the module is passed at the aforementioned 40 level
Taught material on the course is divided equally betweenphysics and mathematics All students on the Course will takethe same set of three physics modules (APC801 802 and803) These run for the full duration of the year The math-ematics modules are split into two sets Most students will
take the three APC mathematics modules (APC804 5 and 6)these contain equivalent material as A-Level Maths Core 1-4APC804 runs for the first half of the course while APC805 runsfor the second half
If a student has a particular interest in doing a ldquofree-choiceelectiverdquo such as a language as a seventh module it may bepossible for this to be studied as a University Certificate along-side the main course This should be discussed with your Aca-demic Adviser because of the workload implications
26 Time Table
The University uses a single online time tabling system Youwill be able to access your personalised time table via the Stu-dent Portal The online timetable will be updated for roomchanges cancellations and other changes and should bechecked every day for the latest information Changes to thetimetable will be pushed out to the online time table This syn-chronises with the monitors that are outside of each teachingroom and the larger screens that are at the main entrance toeach building
The Foundation Year provides a mix of teaching methodssuch as lectures laboratory work tutorials and seminars Astudent may expect an average of 18 hours per week of con-tact time A typical year-long lecture module has an averageof 3 hours per week of contact time Note that depending oncohort size students may be allocated into pairs or groups forthe laboratory work or tutorials You must attend the tutorial orlab at the time allocated to your group and you cannot changewithout prior permission from the module tutor
Occasionally students will be required to attend rearrangedclasses or extra tutorials at times or on days when they donot normally have classes Students should not commit them-selves to part time jobs that conflict with the academic require-ments of their course Wednesday afternoons are traditionallyleft unscheduled at British Universities to allow for undergrad-uate sporting fixtures and social events
27 Results
Module results are released on myUCLan Final modulemarks are released after the end of Semester 2 on the lastMonday of June In 2016 this is the 27th of June
28 Progression
Progression is the process whereby a student satisfactorilycompletes one year of study and progresses on to the nextyear of their course Discussions about your progressionthrough the course normally take place in February each yearIt is an opportunity for you to make plans for your study overthe next academic year The Course Team will tell you aboutthe various modules combinations available and you will bothagree on the most appropriate (and legal) course of study foryou
All modules must be passed in order for a student toprogress The Foundation Year is designed to provide you withthe minimum required knowledge of physics and mathematics
7
2 COURSE STRUCTURE AND OVERVIEW
Table 24 Available modules on the PhysicsEngineering Foundation Year Column 1 lists the module code column 2 lists themodule title The last column lists whether the module is taught in a single semester or in both semesters (Year Long)
Module Code Module Title Delivery
APC801 Introduction to University Physics Year Long
APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields Year Long
APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics Year Long
APC804 Mathematical Methods Semester One
APC805 Further Mathematical Methods Semester Two
APC806 Graphs and Vectors Year Long
to be able to enter the BScBEng programmes Therefore sim-ply passing all modules at 40 will not adequately prepare youfor student in the first year of the degree programme
281 Progression Criteria
In order to ensure a student can cope with the academic con-tent in Year 1 it has been determined that the following pro-gression criteria will apply
Automatic Admission
Physics Year One 120 credits and an average percentagemark (APM) of at least 60 across all modules allowsthe option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of thePhysicsAstrophysics degree programmes
Engineering Year One 120 credits and an average percent-age mark (APM) of at least 50 across all modules al-lows option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of theEngineering degree programmes
Discretionary Admission
The Course Assessment Boards will consider students for ad-mission with 120 credits and with an APM that is up to 10points below the APM for their respective course (ie 50for Physics 40 for Engineering) Students may be asked toundertake reassessment designed to raise their APM to a levelrequested by the Course Board
Alternative Admission
Students who achieve 120 credits and an APM of at least 40and who are not admitted to a PhysicsEngineering degreemay be offered admission to another degree programme atthe University of Central Lancashire
29 Further Information
291 UCLan Official Web-pages
The following are a few of the public facing UCLan webpagesthat might be useful to you
bull Welcome to UCLan (httpwwwuclanacukstudentsstudynewphp) This is the Welcome pageon uclanacuk that all new students are directed tobefore they arrive This will include check-lists of thingsto do before and during your Welcome here
bull Guide to Student Regulations (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsliferules_regsphp) This page in-cludes the Regulations for the Conduct of Students
bull Academic Regulations (httpwwwuclanacukaqasuacademic_regulationsphp) This page in-cludes the most up to date copies of both the UCLanAcademic Regulations which state how courses andmodules are regulated and the Assessment Handbookwhich details the principles under which assessment isconducted
bull Student Support (httpswwwuclanacukstudents) The central hub for Student Supportwebpages at UCLan Including advise on student lifehealth amp well-being finances study issues and muchmore
bull Academic Calendar (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyacademic_calendarphp) This pagecontains the most up to date version of the UCLanAcademic Calendar
Most student information including the teaching material oneLearn Blackboard and the sources above can be accessedfrom the Student Portal (httpsportaluclanacuk) us-ing your UCLan e-mail user-name and password Additionallystudents can review their enrolment personal details and aca-demic record via the myUCLan online service
292 Independent Sources
bull UCLan SU (httpwwwuclansucouk) The websiteof UCLanrsquos Student Union The Union is able to offer trulyindependent advice to you as it is controlled by the Stu-dent Body not by the University itself
bull Pluto (httppluto-onlinecom) Pluto is the Inde-pendent UCLan Student Newspaper It contains newsstories about Student Life both here and around the coun-try
8
Chapter 3
Before You Arrive
In this chapter we look at the things you bring to Universityndash ideally things you should know and things you should haveprocured You may have received a leaflet and letter aboutmathematics preparation after you accepted the offer to studyon this Course The revision section below replicates the rec-ommendations and resources from that leaflet After that welook at the basic stationary that you will need for your Courseand describe the type of calculator you should have
31 Revision
311 Necessary Skills
Mathematics is a key skill that you will have to develop duringyour time on the Course and it is vitally important that you areup to speed with the full range of GCSE (including Intermedi-ate and Higher tier) Mathematics before you start
Skills and topics that you should ideally be comfortable withinclude
Basic numeracy Including the use of directed (negative)numbers fractions (adding multiplying etc) surds in-dices order of operations highest common factors per-centages significant figures ratios etc
Algebra You should be able to manipulate basic algebraicequations including factorizing of simple quadratics mak-ing a quantity the subject of a formula repeating normalnumerical actions (multiplication factions indices factor-izing) with algebra
Trigonometry The area and angles of a triangle applicationof sine cosine and tangent simple vectors and vectoraddition
Graphs Plotting an xy graph how the equation y = mx +c relates to a straight line how algebraic equations(quadratics etc) can be plotted on such a graph
We will be testing these in the diagnostic test during WelcomeWeek and will offer some remedial help at the start of termHowever your entry into University will be a lot more fun andless stressful if you have got this sorted before you turn up
312 Revision Resources
There are two main resources that we recommend for appli-cants who are having to bring their mathematical skills up tothe level described above The first is a textbook that ac-companies a standalone qualification called the ldquoFoundationsof Mathematicsrdquo and the second is a free website called theldquoKhan Academyrdquo
Foundations of Advanced Mathematics 2nd Edition
This book is the best possible benchmark for the mathematicselement at the start of this course If you revise and practiceeverything contained in this book you will be well equipped totackle the material at the start of the Foundation Year It willget harder but this will give you an excellent head start
This book accompanies a standalone qualification that is de-signed to take a student from intermediate tier GCSE to thestart of AS Level maths While we do not recommend youtake the actual qualification the revision and teaching materi-als available for it are recommended You may also find thesematerials useful if you are studying mathematics for a currentnon-A Level qualification
Full Reference David Snell et al (2003) Foundations ofAdvanced Mathematics 2nd ed London Hodder EducationISBN 9780340869260
Khan Academy
wwwkhanacademyorgThis website is a good online study resource It was put to-
gether by Salman Khan a former hedge fund analyst who re-alized that there was no good free resource for people wantingto learn mathematics The Academy works on a challenge-and-response principle As you attempt problems it noticeswhere you are succeeding and failing and shows you morechallenging material or additional tutorials as necessary
You can spend as little or as much time on there as youwish mdash either to brush up a skill or as the main focus of yourrevision You may even find its format addictive For thosewanting to use the Academy as their main revision route wewould suggest that you take either of the following subjects
The World of Math This gives a broad overview of mathe-matics and includes elementary material where neces-sary wwwkhanacademyorgmath
9
3 BEFORE YOU ARRIVE
Algebra Basics This is a set of materials specifically put to-gether in preparation for US university entrance examswwwkhanacademyorgmathalgebra-basics
313 Additional Resources
There are several additional resources that may be useful toyou Some are free some are not
Bridging GCSE and A-Level Maths by Mark RowlandPublished by Collins ISBN 978-0-00-741023-1 Thisbook covers what you should know from GCSE andindicates where that will lead to at A Level It is about 160pages long with 80 pages of examples and referencesfollowed by 80 pages of problems This may not be souseful if you are too rusty on the GCSE parts
GCSE to A level Jump wwwm4thscomindexphpp=1_12 This website discusses the transition to A-Leveland includes links to several useful resources Werecommend you have a look at the self-audit sheets asthese give good examples of what yoursquoll be facing onyour course
Step UP To A-Level Maths wwwcimtplymouthacukprojectsmepresstep-updefaulthtm This websitelists the skills yoursquoll need to study maths at A-Level andalso includes chapters from a GCSE textbook
Maths Centre wwwmathcentreacuk This site deliverssupport materials (videos and PDF worksheets) free ofcharge to students lecturers and everyone looking forpost-16 maths help
The Jump wwwm4thscomgcse-to-a-level-bridgehtml This is a series of videos that were prepared byM4ths founder Steve Blades There are 30 videos intotal and the first 20 are on YouTube and are linked tofrom Steversquos website
YouTube You will find that there are a lot of helpful videos onYouTube If you get stuck on a topic try a YouTube searchand yoursquoll usually find videos from high school teachersand sometimes university lecturers who have put theirlessons online
32 Stationary
Supplying basic day-to-day style equipment such as pens pa-per and calculators is a studentrsquos responsibility How studentsorganize their work can be highly individualistic Neverthelessit is recommended that all students invest in some basic sta-tionary and something that will allow them to organize the sur-prisingly large amount of paper that will be generated duringtheir studies
The following should be considered as the minimum recom-mended set of equipment
Pens Always make sure that you have got at least one sparepen with youmdashespecially in exams Just as in school weask that students use either blue or black ink during as-sessment Red ink is usually reserved for marking greenink for moderation
Pencil eraser pencil sharpener The received wisdom isthat students use pen for writing and pencil for everythingelse (sketching graphs drawing diagrams etc)
Paper Students have to supply their own paper However theUniversity will provide paper in exams Do not be afraidof using a lot of paper and do not cram too much writingonto a single sheet It is often useful to be able to addnotes or annotations around whatever you have written
Filing You generally have two options here You can eitheruse bound notebooksmdashone per subjectmdashor you can fileloose paper in a binder Both techniques allows you toseparate your notes into different topicslectures
Ruler You will have to draw graphs and diagrams It is veryprobable that you are not Leonard Da Vinci and thus can-not draw an immaculate line free hand Thus a ruler willbe essential
Stapler (and staples)paper clips Something to keep yourlose papers together when they are not in your filing sys-tem Pages of an assignment should always be attachedtogethermdashit is your responsibility to make sure that sub-mitted assignments are in a condition where pages can-not become separated (quite easy when everybodyrsquoswork is piled together)
33 Calculators
In time you will learn to estimate the answers to most calcu-lations on the ldquoback of an enveloperdquo However until then youwill need to use a calculator or app It should be able to handlebasic trigonometry functions (sin cos tan) and their inversespowers (x2
radicx xy) logarithms (base 10 and natural) sci-
entific notation and the ability to work in radians as well asdegrees
If you studied A-Level Maths the calculator you had for thatwill be adequate Good calculator apps are also available onmost computer and mobile phone platforms (eg RealCalc onAndroid Applersquos Calculator for OS X and iOS Windows Cal-culator etc) However phone apps cannot be used in examsand some lecturers may object to you having your phone outin tutorials
We do not prescribe which type of calculator you should useoutside of exam times However you should avoid models thatare too advanced as you will not be able to take them intoexams (see below) A calculator is merely a tool that speedsup a process it will avail you little if you do not first understandthat process It is your responsibility to know how to use yourown calculator
Calculators will be allowed in some exams and youshould bring one to those exams Mobile phones and theirapps are not allowed in exam halls Calculators may not beallowed in some exams particularly those focusing on puremathematics You should check with the Module Leader asto whether a calculator is allowed in the examination for theirModule
Misuse of a calculator is counted as cheating (Unfair Means)under the Exam Regulations A Foundation Year is taught atLevel 3 the same as A-Level we therefore adopt the guideline
10
34 Misc
similar to of the Joint Council for Qualifications1 (the industrybody that represents the A-Level exam boards)
Specifically that in examinations calculators
bull Must not include these functions
ndash Language translators
ndash Symbolic algebra manipulation
ndash Symbolic differentiation or integration
ndash Graphical plotting
ndash Connect to the internet or other machines
bull Must not include retrievable information (eg mathemati-cal formulae text etc)
bull Any programmable memory must be erasable and shouldbe erased prior to the start of any exam
Notes
bull Standard calculator memory is allowed (the standard MMR M+ functions but this must be empty before anyexam begins)
bull Physical constants and unit conversion are allowed solong as those constants and conversions are not user pro-grammable
bull For reference the CASIO FX-85GT Plus is the defaultcalculator that students on our maths degree have in thepast been issued with
34 Misc
bull Carrying stuff around in your bag or rucksack will result init getting batteredmdashbinders become worn holes in paperbecome pulled rulers become chipped Think about thisin advance Possibly leave the full binder in your accom-modation and use card folders to protect notes in transitbefore you file them in the evening Keep your ruler in thesheath that it came in Use a pencil case to keep loosepens pencils etc together
bull There are several stationary shops in town including WHSmiths Staples and Rymans However shop aroundmdashsome shops are decidedly cheaper than others We arescientists and engineers itrsquos functionality that mattersnot style
1As specified in Section 3 of the 2014-15 rsquoICErsquo (Instructions for conductingexaminations)
11
Chapter 4
Text Books
In this Chapter we run down the Course Texts for this Courseand look at other books that might be of relevance Please donot buy the Course Texts yourself These will be distributed toyou upon arrival (the cost is included in your fees)
Any A-Level Physics andor A-Level Maths text book will beuseful to you so bring any existing MathsPhysics books withyou The following Sections also include details of a few othertext books that students might find useful
41 Physics
411 Course Text Introduction to Physics
Introduction to Physics is a full-colour textbook that is linked toa website system called WileyPlus through which you can ac-cess additional resources and a full electronic text of the bookWe will be using WileyPlus as a means of setting assignmentsand homeworks based on material from the Course Text Thisis the book you will be given upon arrival
Full reference John D Cutnell et al (2015) Introduction toPhysics International Student Version 10th ed New JerseyJohn Wiley amp Sons ISBN 9781118651520
412 Additional Texts
bull Jim Breithaupt (2015) Physics 4th ed Basingstoke Pal-grave MacMillan ISBN 9781137443236
bull Gareth Kelly and Nigel Wood (2013) Mathematics for ALevel Physics A Course Companion Cheltenham Illu-minate Publishing
bull Roger Muncaster (1993) A-Level Physics 4th ed Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9780748715848
bull Carol Tear (2013) Maths Skills for A Level Physics Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9781408521205
Breithhauptrsquos Physics is a comparable physics text to Cutnellamp Johnson albeit more compact Muncasterrsquos A-Level Physicsremains a favourite among many A-Level Physics teachersand FE lecturers It can appear rather old school but it is clearprecise and waffle free Muncaster is a text that rewards stu-dents who are willing to study hard The two maths skills books(Kelly amp Woood and Tear) have been written to accompany themathematics that arise in A-Level equivalent Physics The fo-cus here is on the use of maths to solve Physics problemsmore than is on maths for the sake of maths These may beuseful to students who struggle with the application of mathe-matics to physics
42 Mathematics
421 Course Text Foundation Mathematics
Foundation Mathematics is an online only text that is accessi-ble via WileyPlus We will be using WileyPlus as a means ofsetting assignments and homeworks based on material fromthe Course Text Please be aware that a Browser pluging (Wol-framrsquos CDF player) may be necessary to access some contentfrom the bookmdashthese are illustrative applets only and will notimpact upon assessment This is the book you will be givenupon arrival
Full reference Colin Steele et al (2015) Foundation Math-ematics 1st ed New Jersey John Wiley amp Sons ISBN9781118500507
13
4 TEXT BOOKS
422 Additional Texts
bull David Snell et al (2003) Foundations of Advanced Math-ematics 2nd ed London Hodder Education ISBN9780340869260
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2004) Core 1 and 2for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548960
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2005) Core 3 and 4for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548977
Snell et al is an introductory textbook that covers maths ma-terial that spans intermediate-Tier GCSE Maths up to and in-cluding some material from AS-Level Mathematics This wasthe book we recommended for students who have done littleor no A-Level Mathematics before they arrived The Quadlingand Neill textbooks accompany the OCRrsquos A-Level Mathemat-ics We will be covering comparable material in our Mathe-matics Modules Students who take the advanced MAC mathsmodules will be supplied with these books if necessary
43 Study Skills
We will integrate general study skills into our Physics teachinghighlighting where certain skills are important and showcasinghow you can learn more To support this we have chosen agood all round study guide (listed below) as the Course TextThis will be given to you when you arrive at UCLan
Nevertheless there are other books available (including anextensive range from Palgrave) These may be of interest tostudents who know that they have faced study problems in thepast or who are new to studying in a more academic and lessvocational manner
431 Course Text Study Skills For ScienceEngineering amp Technology Students
Itrsquos blurb describes it as an ldquoaccessible student-friendly hand-book that covers all of the essential study skills that will ensureyou get the most out of your Science Engineering or Technol-ogy courserdquo A good all round book that covers academic andpersonal skills We will be using sections from this book as thebasis for some of your skills sessions This is the book you willbe given upon arrival
Full reference Pat Maier Anna Barney and Geraldine Price(2009) Study Skills for Science Engineering and TechnologyStudents Harlow Pearson ISBN 9780273720737
432 Additional Texts
bull Stella Cottrell (2013) The Study Skills Handbook 4th edBasingstroke Palgrave MacMillan ISBN 978113728925
bull David Sands (2004) Studying Physics BasingstrokePalgrave MacMillan ISBN 9781403903280
Stellar Cottrell has established herself as one of the leadingauthors in the field of Study Skills and The Study Skills Hand-book is her flagship volume It contains a lot of practical guidesand information about how to successfully manage your stud-ies Studying Physics describes itself as ldquoa unique guide tothe essential skills in physics you need to acquire by the timeyou graduaterdquo Although this book comes under the PalgraveStudy Skills banner it is really more of an academic text thanmany other Study Skills books It focuses more towards beinga reference text than a self-help one
14
Chapter 5
Frequently Asked Questions
51 Study Time
How much work should I do Courses at UCLan are de-signed with the expectation that students can achieve a suc-cessful result by studying for 10 hours for each credit they needto achieve This includes attendance at UCLan and time spentin private study
Your modules are all worth 20 credits so you should ex-pect to do a minimum of 200 study hours for each of themThat 200-hours contains 3 hours per week of class contacttime (approximately 70 hours) The remaining will be under-taken by you as self-study support work in readiness for theclasses and assessment time The module descriptors (avail-able on eLearn) include an indicative breakdown of how thestudy time may be divided between various activities suchas reviewing lectures trying practice questions and attempt-ing assessments
Do not underestimate the amount of work you need to do toachieve your potential As a rough guide there are about 31weeks in the teaching year (24 in-class weeks 2-3 revisionsweeks amp 4 exam weeks) Six modules at 200 hours per mod-ule equals 1200 hours Spread out over those 31 weeks thisequates to about 39 hours a week ie the same hours as afull time job
Why am I having to work harder do less work than myfriends You may find yourselves having to work harder andput in more hours than some of your friends This is perfectlynatural and is a by-product of your individual experiences
Students who have done either maths or physics A-Levelmdashyou will have sat one or both of these before So even if youdid not get a high grade or only did one of the two you willstill have seen some of this material before That means youmay find yourself having to do less work and put in fewer hoursthan some of your friends Do not become smug There arestill plenty of ways to fail and over-confidence will be the routeto many of them
For a former PhysicsMaths A-Level student the route tosuccess is to use this year productively and to repair problemsthat occurred during your A-Levels Maintain your studies Ifyou slack-off your skills will become unpracticed and you willbe knocked sideways once we get to the really difficult materialin Semester Two
Everybody elsemdashthe disadvantage that you face is that youwill not have seen as much of the material as the former A-Level students Nevertheless some of our best students wereBTEC students who committed themselves from the outsetand ended-up with higher grades than most A-Level students
Ultimately you are trying to learn in one year what it takesmost students two-years to learn The only way for you to suc-ceed is to embrace that challenge
52 Results and Progression
Do I get a separate certificate or qualification for complet-ing the Foundation Year No the Foundation Year is onlythe first year of a longer degree The qualification is that finaldegree certificate
Does the Foundation Year count towards my degreeaward No your average mark for the Foundation Year willonly determine whether you progress to Year One
Will I get a transcript of my results A Transcript lists themodules undertaken credit value and grades achieved duringeach academic session of study The overall result obtainedwill also be indicated You will receive a transcript upon thesuccessful completion of your programme of study
That means you will not automatically receive a paper tran-script at the end of the Foundation Year as your course (thefull degree) has not yet finished Your official module resultsthose accepted by the Assessment Boards will be availableon myUCLan
Please see the Certificates and Awards webpage formore information You may wish to contact Awardcere-moniesuclanacuk if you have a particular need for a papertranscript
I think Irsquom going to fail what should I do We cannot es-cape the unfortunate fact that not every student on this yearwill progress onto Year One of their chosen degree There areacademic standards for progression (the move from one yearof study to the next) that you must meet Failure to meet thosegrades may result in you having to change to a different courseor potentially leave University after only one year
15
5 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Doing well in these skills is merely a measurement of a sin-gle aptitude It is never a measurement of a personrsquos worth ortheir potential in a different field it may just be that your ap-titudes lie elsewhere Struggling against something that youmay not be suited to can in some circumstances lead to anxi-ety and depression
Please do not be frightened in confronting this before theend of the course Your academic adviser can offer guidancethe student support service has a confidential Counseling Ser-vice for anybody feeling overwhelmed and UCLanrsquos careersservices can all help you evaluate the larger picture
16
Chapter 6
Student Finance
In this chapter we look at how your fees will be used and pro-vide guidelines for typical living costs for students in Preston
61 Tuition Fees
Your tuition fees include
bull Scheduled course tuition academic technical and ad-ministrative support use of course equipment and facil-ities
bull Course related induction activities
bull Placement year academic support (where the course in-cludes a placement year)
bull Course assessment and awards
bull Access to the universityrsquos library and online resourcesincluding on-campus wifi networked and remote accessto the universityrsquos virtual learning environment
bull Use of the universityrsquos estate and resources for scheduledactivities and learning support
bull Dissertation project andor thesis printing and bindingwhere the submission of printed and bound documentsis a requirement for assessment of the module
bull Use of the universityrsquos technical equipment and materialsidentified by the course teaching team as essential for thecompletion of the course
bull The extra items listed against your course in Table 61below
62 Living costs
Living costs are not included in your tuition fees You will needto budget for these separately Table 62 includes an indicationof some typical living costs but everyone is different and youare strongly advised to plan your own budget
You may also need to budget for ldquoone offrdquo or irregular costsTable 63 contains a representative list
63 Additional Costs
There are some costs that may be incurred by some but not allstudents and are not included within the Tuition Fees Theseare listed in Table 64
64 Student Finance
If you are dealing with agencies like Student Finance pleaseremember to tell them the full duration of your course TheFoundation Year adds an additional year to the BScBEng de-grees and MPhysMEng degrees making them 4-years and 5-years long respectively
UCLanrsquos Student Finance Support Team are available to ad-vise you on any problems and can provide short term emer-gency loans in some cases
17
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 61 Table of items included in Student Fees
Course Additional items included in the tuition fees for yourcourse
Foundation Year for Courses covered by this Hand-book
Compulsory text books (see Chapter 4)
BSc (Hons) Robotics EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering
IET Membership
BSc (Hons) Physics years 1 2 and 3 Frontier Education events
BSc (Hons) Motorsports Engineering years 1 2 and 3 Imech E Student RegistrationFormula Student
MPhys (Hons) AstrophysicsBEng (Hons) Computer Aided EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic EngineeringBSc (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringBSc (Hons) Motorsports EngineeringBSc (Hons) PhysicsBSc (Hons) Robotics Engineering
Compulsory text books in year one
18
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Chapter 1
Introduction
11 Headrsquos Welcome
Welcome to the Schoolof Physical Sciences andComputing (PSC) andcongratulations on being ac-cepted on the programme
I am delighted that youhave chosen to enrol onthe Physics and Engineer-ing Foundation ProgrammeWe will endeavour to pro-vide you with an outstandingexperience of higher educa-tion by continuously improv-ing this course through your
feedback year on year We are aware that you have made adecision that affects your future career and we can assure youthat we will work hard to meet your aspirations However wealso expect that you will commit sufficient time and efforts toacquire and apply the knowledge and experience required tosucceed in your field of study
I trust that you will find your experience enjoyable and re-warding In the meantime if you have any queries or concernsI would advise you to contact your course leader at the earliestpossible opportunity
Dr Stewart EyresHead of School of Physical Sciences and ComputingTwitter astrostewey
3
Chapter 2
Course Structure and Overview
This Chapter covers the central concepts of Higher Educationand how they apply to this Course We start by looking at therational and aims of the course upon which you are enrolledbefore covering how the course is organised administrativelyand academically We then look at how you can access yourweekly time table the structure of the academic year and fi-nally at progressionmdashhow we manage transition into the nextyear of your studies
21 Rationale and Aims
A Foundation Year is the first year of a full time four-year Bachelor (BScBEng) or five-year integrated Masters(MPhysMEng) degree You will often find the Foundation Yearreferred to as ldquoYear Zerordquo as it comes before ldquoYear Onerdquo of theshorter versions of those degrees The aim of this year asdescribed in the Physics amp Engineering Programme Specifica-tions is to ldquosupply the necessary expertise and experiencerdquorequired for new students to enter a range of Physics or Engi-neering degrees when ldquothey do not already possess the nec-essary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do sordquo
The aims of this Year will be realised by providing you witha ldquobackground and experiencerdquo in physics and mathematicalmethods that is broadly equivalent to a student who has ful-filled the entry requirements (nominally A2 level in Physics ampMaths) The syllabus is designed to be comparable to A-LevelMaths and Physics albeit in a form that can be taught full-timeover 24 weeks
Table 21 lists the Degree Courses that are fed by thePhysicsEngineering Foundation Year These Degree Coursesare from two separate Schools the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing (PSC) and the School of Engineer-ing Both of these Schools are part of the College of Scienceand Technology This year is mainly taught by staff from theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI httpwwwstaruclanacuk) within the PSC The first column of Table 21 lists theDegree Title the second and third columns list the respectiveprogramme codes (unique idents used for paperwork) for therelevant FYE Bachelor and Masters Degrees
This particular Handbook covers the Foundation Year por-tion of your degrees Students should consult the Handbooksfor their individual degree courses for information about YearOne and later employment opportunities the degree accredi-tation and other matters relating to those professions Those
Handbooks will be available from the separate School areason eLearn Blackboard
22 Enrolment and Induction
There will be a Welcome Week prior to the start of teachingAll students are expected to attend the Welcome Week andthe InductionOrientation events that are arranged during thatweek It is important that students complete their online enrol-ment as early as possible
Please make sure you are issued with a UCLan StudentID Card and a University e-mail address You will need theID card to access the library prove your identity and to scanin (prove attendance) at all teaching events The e-mail ad-dress is your key to accessing almost all online material foryour course including teaching materials online assessmentnotices from the Administrative Hub and your electronic timetable
Please see the information in the Welcome e-mails from theAdmissions staff and the Check-list on the Welcome to UCLanwebpage During the Welcome Week help for almost all even-tualities is available from The lt i gt on the Ground Floor of theUCLan Library
23 Tutors and Leads
Whilst you are at UCLan it will be your Academic Adviserand the Year Tutor who deal with matters involving attendancemonitoring initial welfare counselling and programme adviceThey will usually be your first point of contact in many mattersThe role of the Academic Adviser is to act as a liaison betweenyourself and the University The Year Tutors coordinate mattersacross the Year The Year Tutor for Physics is Dr Jason Kirk(JMKirkuclanacuk) while the Year Tutor for Engineering isDr Stephen Kirkup (SMKirkupuclanacuk)
Columns 4 and 5 of Table 21 list the Course Leaders andAcademic Leads for each of the named Degree CoursesCourse Leaders coordinate matters including the delivery andassessment of modules across all years of specific DegreeCourses Academic Leads coordinate matters including aca-demic quality and discipline across a set of related subjectsYou may be referred to these Leads if matters are serious
5
2 COURSE STRUCTURE AND OVERVIEW
Table 21 Table of Foundation Entry Courses that are taught using some or all of the APC80x modules The first columnlists the course title The middle columns list the programme codes for the 4-year Bachelor (BScBEng) and 5-year Masters(MPhysMEngMMath) courses The final two columns list the Course Leader and relevant Academic Lead for each Course
FYE Course Title Y0 Programme Code Course Lead Academic Lead
Bachelor Masters
School of Physical Sciences amp Computing (Head Stew Eyres)
Applied Physics ULAPPH111 ULAPPH112 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Astrophysics ULASPH100 ULASPH111 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Physics With Astro ULPWAS111 ULPWAS112 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Physics ULPHCS100 ULPHCS111 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
School of Engineering (Dean Rob Wallace)
Aerospace Engineering ULAERO110 ULAERO111 Dominic Diston Martin Varley
Architectural Engineering ULAREN111 ULAREN110 Martin Varley
Building Services and SustainableEnergy Engineering
ULBSSE110 Martin Varley
Computer Aided Engineering ULCAEB110 ULCAEB111 Matt Dickinson Martin Varley
Electronic Engineering ULELEN110 ULELEN111 Stephen Sigurnjak Martin Varley
Energy Engineering ULENER110 ULENER111 Martin Varley
Fire Engineering ULFIRE110 ULFIRE111 Martin Varley
Mechanical Engineering ULMECH110 ULMECH111 Justin Whitty Martin Varley
Motor Sports Engineering ULMSEN110 ULMSEN111 Graham Calderbank Martin Varley
Oil and Gas Safety Engineering Martin Varley
Robotics Engineering ULROBO110 ULROBO111 Stephen Mein Martin Varley
Table 22 Table of Administrative Details for each School
Subject E-Mail Address Location
PhysicsAstronomy Fosterhubuclanacuk Foster Admin Hub
Engineering mdash mdash
enough Do not underestimate this escalation as it can andwill result in withdrawal where necessary
From time to time you will be asked to communicate withthe Campus Administrative Service This is the administrationservice that deals with the academic paperwork for the Col-lege Campus Administrative Services are divided into a setof large Hubs that are distributed across the Preston campusTable 22 lists the locations dedicated e-mail addresses
24 The Academic Year
The Academic Year runs from September to August and is di-vided into overlapping terms and semesters Key dates for the2015-16 Academic Year are reproduced in Table 23 Termsare continuous periods of teaching between the major va-cations and are mainly are used for financial matters (figur-
ing maintenance loan payments student fees etc) Term 1runs from the Welcome Week until Christmas Term 2 runsfrom Christmas until Easter and Term 3 runs after EasterSemesters are used for academic matters (modules teachingand examinations) They normally conclude with dedicatedweeks for revision and examinations Semester One runs fromthe Welcome Week until the January exams Semester Tworuns from the end of January until the main May exams All un-dergraduate teaching is contained within Semesters One andTwo Semester Three runs over the summer and is not usedfor undergraduate teaching
All students must attend from the start of induction for theiryear group up to the end of the exams held during the Univer-sityrsquos Central Examination Weeks The exact usage of eachweek by the Teaching Team is specified in the AssessmentSchedule (available on eLearn Blackboard) If you need re-
6
26 Time Table
Table 23 Table of key dates in the 2015-16 AcademicCalendar See the Academic Year webpages (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyacademic_calendarphp)for a fuller breakdown and printable year chart
Date Event
14 Sep 2015 Welcome WeekTerm 1 begins
21 Sep 2015 Semester 1Teaching begins
11 Dec 2015 Term 1 ends
14 Dec 2015 Semester break begins
1 Jan 2016 Semester break ends
4 Jan 2016 Term 2 begins
22 Jan 2016 Semester 1 ends
25 Jan 2016 Semester 2 begins
18 Mar 2016 Term 2 ends
4 Apr 2016 Term 3 begins
20 May 2016 Semester 2Term 3 ends
23 May 2016 Semester 3 begins
26 Aug 2016 Semester 3 ends
assessment it is your responsibility to ensure that you are ableto meet the coursework reassessment deadline set (normallyin the third week of August) and that you are available to attendfor any summer resit examinations Absence due to a familyholiday or similar cause is not accepted as a reason for notattending resits or examinations at any time
25 Modules
The taught material on University courses is divided into Mod-ules discrete learning blocks that are led by a named ModuleLeader Other tutors may lecture or provide tutorial supportbut it is the module leader who is responsible for the assess-ment and content of that module Each module counts for adifferent number of credits Full time study counts as a collec-tion of modules that add up to a total of 120 credits For thiscourse each module counts for 20 credits
The list of modules for this Year can be found in Table 24A complete list of UCLan modules can be found in the OnlineModule Catalogue The list of modules you will study in lateryears can be found in the Course Handbooks for your individ-ual degree courses
Modules will differ in their pattern of assessment but theeventual result with be a percentage grade between 0 and100 A module is considered as ldquopassedrdquo if your grade init is greater than or equal to 40 The credits are only countedif the module is passed at the aforementioned 40 level
Taught material on the course is divided equally betweenphysics and mathematics All students on the Course will takethe same set of three physics modules (APC801 802 and803) These run for the full duration of the year The math-ematics modules are split into two sets Most students will
take the three APC mathematics modules (APC804 5 and 6)these contain equivalent material as A-Level Maths Core 1-4APC804 runs for the first half of the course while APC805 runsfor the second half
If a student has a particular interest in doing a ldquofree-choiceelectiverdquo such as a language as a seventh module it may bepossible for this to be studied as a University Certificate along-side the main course This should be discussed with your Aca-demic Adviser because of the workload implications
26 Time Table
The University uses a single online time tabling system Youwill be able to access your personalised time table via the Stu-dent Portal The online timetable will be updated for roomchanges cancellations and other changes and should bechecked every day for the latest information Changes to thetimetable will be pushed out to the online time table This syn-chronises with the monitors that are outside of each teachingroom and the larger screens that are at the main entrance toeach building
The Foundation Year provides a mix of teaching methodssuch as lectures laboratory work tutorials and seminars Astudent may expect an average of 18 hours per week of con-tact time A typical year-long lecture module has an averageof 3 hours per week of contact time Note that depending oncohort size students may be allocated into pairs or groups forthe laboratory work or tutorials You must attend the tutorial orlab at the time allocated to your group and you cannot changewithout prior permission from the module tutor
Occasionally students will be required to attend rearrangedclasses or extra tutorials at times or on days when they donot normally have classes Students should not commit them-selves to part time jobs that conflict with the academic require-ments of their course Wednesday afternoons are traditionallyleft unscheduled at British Universities to allow for undergrad-uate sporting fixtures and social events
27 Results
Module results are released on myUCLan Final modulemarks are released after the end of Semester 2 on the lastMonday of June In 2016 this is the 27th of June
28 Progression
Progression is the process whereby a student satisfactorilycompletes one year of study and progresses on to the nextyear of their course Discussions about your progressionthrough the course normally take place in February each yearIt is an opportunity for you to make plans for your study overthe next academic year The Course Team will tell you aboutthe various modules combinations available and you will bothagree on the most appropriate (and legal) course of study foryou
All modules must be passed in order for a student toprogress The Foundation Year is designed to provide you withthe minimum required knowledge of physics and mathematics
7
2 COURSE STRUCTURE AND OVERVIEW
Table 24 Available modules on the PhysicsEngineering Foundation Year Column 1 lists the module code column 2 lists themodule title The last column lists whether the module is taught in a single semester or in both semesters (Year Long)
Module Code Module Title Delivery
APC801 Introduction to University Physics Year Long
APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields Year Long
APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics Year Long
APC804 Mathematical Methods Semester One
APC805 Further Mathematical Methods Semester Two
APC806 Graphs and Vectors Year Long
to be able to enter the BScBEng programmes Therefore sim-ply passing all modules at 40 will not adequately prepare youfor student in the first year of the degree programme
281 Progression Criteria
In order to ensure a student can cope with the academic con-tent in Year 1 it has been determined that the following pro-gression criteria will apply
Automatic Admission
Physics Year One 120 credits and an average percentagemark (APM) of at least 60 across all modules allowsthe option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of thePhysicsAstrophysics degree programmes
Engineering Year One 120 credits and an average percent-age mark (APM) of at least 50 across all modules al-lows option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of theEngineering degree programmes
Discretionary Admission
The Course Assessment Boards will consider students for ad-mission with 120 credits and with an APM that is up to 10points below the APM for their respective course (ie 50for Physics 40 for Engineering) Students may be asked toundertake reassessment designed to raise their APM to a levelrequested by the Course Board
Alternative Admission
Students who achieve 120 credits and an APM of at least 40and who are not admitted to a PhysicsEngineering degreemay be offered admission to another degree programme atthe University of Central Lancashire
29 Further Information
291 UCLan Official Web-pages
The following are a few of the public facing UCLan webpagesthat might be useful to you
bull Welcome to UCLan (httpwwwuclanacukstudentsstudynewphp) This is the Welcome pageon uclanacuk that all new students are directed tobefore they arrive This will include check-lists of thingsto do before and during your Welcome here
bull Guide to Student Regulations (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsliferules_regsphp) This page in-cludes the Regulations for the Conduct of Students
bull Academic Regulations (httpwwwuclanacukaqasuacademic_regulationsphp) This page in-cludes the most up to date copies of both the UCLanAcademic Regulations which state how courses andmodules are regulated and the Assessment Handbookwhich details the principles under which assessment isconducted
bull Student Support (httpswwwuclanacukstudents) The central hub for Student Supportwebpages at UCLan Including advise on student lifehealth amp well-being finances study issues and muchmore
bull Academic Calendar (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyacademic_calendarphp) This pagecontains the most up to date version of the UCLanAcademic Calendar
Most student information including the teaching material oneLearn Blackboard and the sources above can be accessedfrom the Student Portal (httpsportaluclanacuk) us-ing your UCLan e-mail user-name and password Additionallystudents can review their enrolment personal details and aca-demic record via the myUCLan online service
292 Independent Sources
bull UCLan SU (httpwwwuclansucouk) The websiteof UCLanrsquos Student Union The Union is able to offer trulyindependent advice to you as it is controlled by the Stu-dent Body not by the University itself
bull Pluto (httppluto-onlinecom) Pluto is the Inde-pendent UCLan Student Newspaper It contains newsstories about Student Life both here and around the coun-try
8
Chapter 3
Before You Arrive
In this chapter we look at the things you bring to Universityndash ideally things you should know and things you should haveprocured You may have received a leaflet and letter aboutmathematics preparation after you accepted the offer to studyon this Course The revision section below replicates the rec-ommendations and resources from that leaflet After that welook at the basic stationary that you will need for your Courseand describe the type of calculator you should have
31 Revision
311 Necessary Skills
Mathematics is a key skill that you will have to develop duringyour time on the Course and it is vitally important that you areup to speed with the full range of GCSE (including Intermedi-ate and Higher tier) Mathematics before you start
Skills and topics that you should ideally be comfortable withinclude
Basic numeracy Including the use of directed (negative)numbers fractions (adding multiplying etc) surds in-dices order of operations highest common factors per-centages significant figures ratios etc
Algebra You should be able to manipulate basic algebraicequations including factorizing of simple quadratics mak-ing a quantity the subject of a formula repeating normalnumerical actions (multiplication factions indices factor-izing) with algebra
Trigonometry The area and angles of a triangle applicationof sine cosine and tangent simple vectors and vectoraddition
Graphs Plotting an xy graph how the equation y = mx +c relates to a straight line how algebraic equations(quadratics etc) can be plotted on such a graph
We will be testing these in the diagnostic test during WelcomeWeek and will offer some remedial help at the start of termHowever your entry into University will be a lot more fun andless stressful if you have got this sorted before you turn up
312 Revision Resources
There are two main resources that we recommend for appli-cants who are having to bring their mathematical skills up tothe level described above The first is a textbook that ac-companies a standalone qualification called the ldquoFoundationsof Mathematicsrdquo and the second is a free website called theldquoKhan Academyrdquo
Foundations of Advanced Mathematics 2nd Edition
This book is the best possible benchmark for the mathematicselement at the start of this course If you revise and practiceeverything contained in this book you will be well equipped totackle the material at the start of the Foundation Year It willget harder but this will give you an excellent head start
This book accompanies a standalone qualification that is de-signed to take a student from intermediate tier GCSE to thestart of AS Level maths While we do not recommend youtake the actual qualification the revision and teaching materi-als available for it are recommended You may also find thesematerials useful if you are studying mathematics for a currentnon-A Level qualification
Full Reference David Snell et al (2003) Foundations ofAdvanced Mathematics 2nd ed London Hodder EducationISBN 9780340869260
Khan Academy
wwwkhanacademyorgThis website is a good online study resource It was put to-
gether by Salman Khan a former hedge fund analyst who re-alized that there was no good free resource for people wantingto learn mathematics The Academy works on a challenge-and-response principle As you attempt problems it noticeswhere you are succeeding and failing and shows you morechallenging material or additional tutorials as necessary
You can spend as little or as much time on there as youwish mdash either to brush up a skill or as the main focus of yourrevision You may even find its format addictive For thosewanting to use the Academy as their main revision route wewould suggest that you take either of the following subjects
The World of Math This gives a broad overview of mathe-matics and includes elementary material where neces-sary wwwkhanacademyorgmath
9
3 BEFORE YOU ARRIVE
Algebra Basics This is a set of materials specifically put to-gether in preparation for US university entrance examswwwkhanacademyorgmathalgebra-basics
313 Additional Resources
There are several additional resources that may be useful toyou Some are free some are not
Bridging GCSE and A-Level Maths by Mark RowlandPublished by Collins ISBN 978-0-00-741023-1 Thisbook covers what you should know from GCSE andindicates where that will lead to at A Level It is about 160pages long with 80 pages of examples and referencesfollowed by 80 pages of problems This may not be souseful if you are too rusty on the GCSE parts
GCSE to A level Jump wwwm4thscomindexphpp=1_12 This website discusses the transition to A-Leveland includes links to several useful resources Werecommend you have a look at the self-audit sheets asthese give good examples of what yoursquoll be facing onyour course
Step UP To A-Level Maths wwwcimtplymouthacukprojectsmepresstep-updefaulthtm This websitelists the skills yoursquoll need to study maths at A-Level andalso includes chapters from a GCSE textbook
Maths Centre wwwmathcentreacuk This site deliverssupport materials (videos and PDF worksheets) free ofcharge to students lecturers and everyone looking forpost-16 maths help
The Jump wwwm4thscomgcse-to-a-level-bridgehtml This is a series of videos that were prepared byM4ths founder Steve Blades There are 30 videos intotal and the first 20 are on YouTube and are linked tofrom Steversquos website
YouTube You will find that there are a lot of helpful videos onYouTube If you get stuck on a topic try a YouTube searchand yoursquoll usually find videos from high school teachersand sometimes university lecturers who have put theirlessons online
32 Stationary
Supplying basic day-to-day style equipment such as pens pa-per and calculators is a studentrsquos responsibility How studentsorganize their work can be highly individualistic Neverthelessit is recommended that all students invest in some basic sta-tionary and something that will allow them to organize the sur-prisingly large amount of paper that will be generated duringtheir studies
The following should be considered as the minimum recom-mended set of equipment
Pens Always make sure that you have got at least one sparepen with youmdashespecially in exams Just as in school weask that students use either blue or black ink during as-sessment Red ink is usually reserved for marking greenink for moderation
Pencil eraser pencil sharpener The received wisdom isthat students use pen for writing and pencil for everythingelse (sketching graphs drawing diagrams etc)
Paper Students have to supply their own paper However theUniversity will provide paper in exams Do not be afraidof using a lot of paper and do not cram too much writingonto a single sheet It is often useful to be able to addnotes or annotations around whatever you have written
Filing You generally have two options here You can eitheruse bound notebooksmdashone per subjectmdashor you can fileloose paper in a binder Both techniques allows you toseparate your notes into different topicslectures
Ruler You will have to draw graphs and diagrams It is veryprobable that you are not Leonard Da Vinci and thus can-not draw an immaculate line free hand Thus a ruler willbe essential
Stapler (and staples)paper clips Something to keep yourlose papers together when they are not in your filing sys-tem Pages of an assignment should always be attachedtogethermdashit is your responsibility to make sure that sub-mitted assignments are in a condition where pages can-not become separated (quite easy when everybodyrsquoswork is piled together)
33 Calculators
In time you will learn to estimate the answers to most calcu-lations on the ldquoback of an enveloperdquo However until then youwill need to use a calculator or app It should be able to handlebasic trigonometry functions (sin cos tan) and their inversespowers (x2
radicx xy) logarithms (base 10 and natural) sci-
entific notation and the ability to work in radians as well asdegrees
If you studied A-Level Maths the calculator you had for thatwill be adequate Good calculator apps are also available onmost computer and mobile phone platforms (eg RealCalc onAndroid Applersquos Calculator for OS X and iOS Windows Cal-culator etc) However phone apps cannot be used in examsand some lecturers may object to you having your phone outin tutorials
We do not prescribe which type of calculator you should useoutside of exam times However you should avoid models thatare too advanced as you will not be able to take them intoexams (see below) A calculator is merely a tool that speedsup a process it will avail you little if you do not first understandthat process It is your responsibility to know how to use yourown calculator
Calculators will be allowed in some exams and youshould bring one to those exams Mobile phones and theirapps are not allowed in exam halls Calculators may not beallowed in some exams particularly those focusing on puremathematics You should check with the Module Leader asto whether a calculator is allowed in the examination for theirModule
Misuse of a calculator is counted as cheating (Unfair Means)under the Exam Regulations A Foundation Year is taught atLevel 3 the same as A-Level we therefore adopt the guideline
10
34 Misc
similar to of the Joint Council for Qualifications1 (the industrybody that represents the A-Level exam boards)
Specifically that in examinations calculators
bull Must not include these functions
ndash Language translators
ndash Symbolic algebra manipulation
ndash Symbolic differentiation or integration
ndash Graphical plotting
ndash Connect to the internet or other machines
bull Must not include retrievable information (eg mathemati-cal formulae text etc)
bull Any programmable memory must be erasable and shouldbe erased prior to the start of any exam
Notes
bull Standard calculator memory is allowed (the standard MMR M+ functions but this must be empty before anyexam begins)
bull Physical constants and unit conversion are allowed solong as those constants and conversions are not user pro-grammable
bull For reference the CASIO FX-85GT Plus is the defaultcalculator that students on our maths degree have in thepast been issued with
34 Misc
bull Carrying stuff around in your bag or rucksack will result init getting batteredmdashbinders become worn holes in paperbecome pulled rulers become chipped Think about thisin advance Possibly leave the full binder in your accom-modation and use card folders to protect notes in transitbefore you file them in the evening Keep your ruler in thesheath that it came in Use a pencil case to keep loosepens pencils etc together
bull There are several stationary shops in town including WHSmiths Staples and Rymans However shop aroundmdashsome shops are decidedly cheaper than others We arescientists and engineers itrsquos functionality that mattersnot style
1As specified in Section 3 of the 2014-15 rsquoICErsquo (Instructions for conductingexaminations)
11
Chapter 4
Text Books
In this Chapter we run down the Course Texts for this Courseand look at other books that might be of relevance Please donot buy the Course Texts yourself These will be distributed toyou upon arrival (the cost is included in your fees)
Any A-Level Physics andor A-Level Maths text book will beuseful to you so bring any existing MathsPhysics books withyou The following Sections also include details of a few othertext books that students might find useful
41 Physics
411 Course Text Introduction to Physics
Introduction to Physics is a full-colour textbook that is linked toa website system called WileyPlus through which you can ac-cess additional resources and a full electronic text of the bookWe will be using WileyPlus as a means of setting assignmentsand homeworks based on material from the Course Text Thisis the book you will be given upon arrival
Full reference John D Cutnell et al (2015) Introduction toPhysics International Student Version 10th ed New JerseyJohn Wiley amp Sons ISBN 9781118651520
412 Additional Texts
bull Jim Breithaupt (2015) Physics 4th ed Basingstoke Pal-grave MacMillan ISBN 9781137443236
bull Gareth Kelly and Nigel Wood (2013) Mathematics for ALevel Physics A Course Companion Cheltenham Illu-minate Publishing
bull Roger Muncaster (1993) A-Level Physics 4th ed Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9780748715848
bull Carol Tear (2013) Maths Skills for A Level Physics Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9781408521205
Breithhauptrsquos Physics is a comparable physics text to Cutnellamp Johnson albeit more compact Muncasterrsquos A-Level Physicsremains a favourite among many A-Level Physics teachersand FE lecturers It can appear rather old school but it is clearprecise and waffle free Muncaster is a text that rewards stu-dents who are willing to study hard The two maths skills books(Kelly amp Woood and Tear) have been written to accompany themathematics that arise in A-Level equivalent Physics The fo-cus here is on the use of maths to solve Physics problemsmore than is on maths for the sake of maths These may beuseful to students who struggle with the application of mathe-matics to physics
42 Mathematics
421 Course Text Foundation Mathematics
Foundation Mathematics is an online only text that is accessi-ble via WileyPlus We will be using WileyPlus as a means ofsetting assignments and homeworks based on material fromthe Course Text Please be aware that a Browser pluging (Wol-framrsquos CDF player) may be necessary to access some contentfrom the bookmdashthese are illustrative applets only and will notimpact upon assessment This is the book you will be givenupon arrival
Full reference Colin Steele et al (2015) Foundation Math-ematics 1st ed New Jersey John Wiley amp Sons ISBN9781118500507
13
4 TEXT BOOKS
422 Additional Texts
bull David Snell et al (2003) Foundations of Advanced Math-ematics 2nd ed London Hodder Education ISBN9780340869260
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2004) Core 1 and 2for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548960
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2005) Core 3 and 4for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548977
Snell et al is an introductory textbook that covers maths ma-terial that spans intermediate-Tier GCSE Maths up to and in-cluding some material from AS-Level Mathematics This wasthe book we recommended for students who have done littleor no A-Level Mathematics before they arrived The Quadlingand Neill textbooks accompany the OCRrsquos A-Level Mathemat-ics We will be covering comparable material in our Mathe-matics Modules Students who take the advanced MAC mathsmodules will be supplied with these books if necessary
43 Study Skills
We will integrate general study skills into our Physics teachinghighlighting where certain skills are important and showcasinghow you can learn more To support this we have chosen agood all round study guide (listed below) as the Course TextThis will be given to you when you arrive at UCLan
Nevertheless there are other books available (including anextensive range from Palgrave) These may be of interest tostudents who know that they have faced study problems in thepast or who are new to studying in a more academic and lessvocational manner
431 Course Text Study Skills For ScienceEngineering amp Technology Students
Itrsquos blurb describes it as an ldquoaccessible student-friendly hand-book that covers all of the essential study skills that will ensureyou get the most out of your Science Engineering or Technol-ogy courserdquo A good all round book that covers academic andpersonal skills We will be using sections from this book as thebasis for some of your skills sessions This is the book you willbe given upon arrival
Full reference Pat Maier Anna Barney and Geraldine Price(2009) Study Skills for Science Engineering and TechnologyStudents Harlow Pearson ISBN 9780273720737
432 Additional Texts
bull Stella Cottrell (2013) The Study Skills Handbook 4th edBasingstroke Palgrave MacMillan ISBN 978113728925
bull David Sands (2004) Studying Physics BasingstrokePalgrave MacMillan ISBN 9781403903280
Stellar Cottrell has established herself as one of the leadingauthors in the field of Study Skills and The Study Skills Hand-book is her flagship volume It contains a lot of practical guidesand information about how to successfully manage your stud-ies Studying Physics describes itself as ldquoa unique guide tothe essential skills in physics you need to acquire by the timeyou graduaterdquo Although this book comes under the PalgraveStudy Skills banner it is really more of an academic text thanmany other Study Skills books It focuses more towards beinga reference text than a self-help one
14
Chapter 5
Frequently Asked Questions
51 Study Time
How much work should I do Courses at UCLan are de-signed with the expectation that students can achieve a suc-cessful result by studying for 10 hours for each credit they needto achieve This includes attendance at UCLan and time spentin private study
Your modules are all worth 20 credits so you should ex-pect to do a minimum of 200 study hours for each of themThat 200-hours contains 3 hours per week of class contacttime (approximately 70 hours) The remaining will be under-taken by you as self-study support work in readiness for theclasses and assessment time The module descriptors (avail-able on eLearn) include an indicative breakdown of how thestudy time may be divided between various activities suchas reviewing lectures trying practice questions and attempt-ing assessments
Do not underestimate the amount of work you need to do toachieve your potential As a rough guide there are about 31weeks in the teaching year (24 in-class weeks 2-3 revisionsweeks amp 4 exam weeks) Six modules at 200 hours per mod-ule equals 1200 hours Spread out over those 31 weeks thisequates to about 39 hours a week ie the same hours as afull time job
Why am I having to work harder do less work than myfriends You may find yourselves having to work harder andput in more hours than some of your friends This is perfectlynatural and is a by-product of your individual experiences
Students who have done either maths or physics A-Levelmdashyou will have sat one or both of these before So even if youdid not get a high grade or only did one of the two you willstill have seen some of this material before That means youmay find yourself having to do less work and put in fewer hoursthan some of your friends Do not become smug There arestill plenty of ways to fail and over-confidence will be the routeto many of them
For a former PhysicsMaths A-Level student the route tosuccess is to use this year productively and to repair problemsthat occurred during your A-Levels Maintain your studies Ifyou slack-off your skills will become unpracticed and you willbe knocked sideways once we get to the really difficult materialin Semester Two
Everybody elsemdashthe disadvantage that you face is that youwill not have seen as much of the material as the former A-Level students Nevertheless some of our best students wereBTEC students who committed themselves from the outsetand ended-up with higher grades than most A-Level students
Ultimately you are trying to learn in one year what it takesmost students two-years to learn The only way for you to suc-ceed is to embrace that challenge
52 Results and Progression
Do I get a separate certificate or qualification for complet-ing the Foundation Year No the Foundation Year is onlythe first year of a longer degree The qualification is that finaldegree certificate
Does the Foundation Year count towards my degreeaward No your average mark for the Foundation Year willonly determine whether you progress to Year One
Will I get a transcript of my results A Transcript lists themodules undertaken credit value and grades achieved duringeach academic session of study The overall result obtainedwill also be indicated You will receive a transcript upon thesuccessful completion of your programme of study
That means you will not automatically receive a paper tran-script at the end of the Foundation Year as your course (thefull degree) has not yet finished Your official module resultsthose accepted by the Assessment Boards will be availableon myUCLan
Please see the Certificates and Awards webpage formore information You may wish to contact Awardcere-moniesuclanacuk if you have a particular need for a papertranscript
I think Irsquom going to fail what should I do We cannot es-cape the unfortunate fact that not every student on this yearwill progress onto Year One of their chosen degree There areacademic standards for progression (the move from one yearof study to the next) that you must meet Failure to meet thosegrades may result in you having to change to a different courseor potentially leave University after only one year
15
5 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Doing well in these skills is merely a measurement of a sin-gle aptitude It is never a measurement of a personrsquos worth ortheir potential in a different field it may just be that your ap-titudes lie elsewhere Struggling against something that youmay not be suited to can in some circumstances lead to anxi-ety and depression
Please do not be frightened in confronting this before theend of the course Your academic adviser can offer guidancethe student support service has a confidential Counseling Ser-vice for anybody feeling overwhelmed and UCLanrsquos careersservices can all help you evaluate the larger picture
16
Chapter 6
Student Finance
In this chapter we look at how your fees will be used and pro-vide guidelines for typical living costs for students in Preston
61 Tuition Fees
Your tuition fees include
bull Scheduled course tuition academic technical and ad-ministrative support use of course equipment and facil-ities
bull Course related induction activities
bull Placement year academic support (where the course in-cludes a placement year)
bull Course assessment and awards
bull Access to the universityrsquos library and online resourcesincluding on-campus wifi networked and remote accessto the universityrsquos virtual learning environment
bull Use of the universityrsquos estate and resources for scheduledactivities and learning support
bull Dissertation project andor thesis printing and bindingwhere the submission of printed and bound documentsis a requirement for assessment of the module
bull Use of the universityrsquos technical equipment and materialsidentified by the course teaching team as essential for thecompletion of the course
bull The extra items listed against your course in Table 61below
62 Living costs
Living costs are not included in your tuition fees You will needto budget for these separately Table 62 includes an indicationof some typical living costs but everyone is different and youare strongly advised to plan your own budget
You may also need to budget for ldquoone offrdquo or irregular costsTable 63 contains a representative list
63 Additional Costs
There are some costs that may be incurred by some but not allstudents and are not included within the Tuition Fees Theseare listed in Table 64
64 Student Finance
If you are dealing with agencies like Student Finance pleaseremember to tell them the full duration of your course TheFoundation Year adds an additional year to the BScBEng de-grees and MPhysMEng degrees making them 4-years and 5-years long respectively
UCLanrsquos Student Finance Support Team are available to ad-vise you on any problems and can provide short term emer-gency loans in some cases
17
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 61 Table of items included in Student Fees
Course Additional items included in the tuition fees for yourcourse
Foundation Year for Courses covered by this Hand-book
Compulsory text books (see Chapter 4)
BSc (Hons) Robotics EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering
IET Membership
BSc (Hons) Physics years 1 2 and 3 Frontier Education events
BSc (Hons) Motorsports Engineering years 1 2 and 3 Imech E Student RegistrationFormula Student
MPhys (Hons) AstrophysicsBEng (Hons) Computer Aided EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic EngineeringBSc (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringBSc (Hons) Motorsports EngineeringBSc (Hons) PhysicsBSc (Hons) Robotics Engineering
Compulsory text books in year one
18
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Chapter 2
Course Structure and Overview
This Chapter covers the central concepts of Higher Educationand how they apply to this Course We start by looking at therational and aims of the course upon which you are enrolledbefore covering how the course is organised administrativelyand academically We then look at how you can access yourweekly time table the structure of the academic year and fi-nally at progressionmdashhow we manage transition into the nextyear of your studies
21 Rationale and Aims
A Foundation Year is the first year of a full time four-year Bachelor (BScBEng) or five-year integrated Masters(MPhysMEng) degree You will often find the Foundation Yearreferred to as ldquoYear Zerordquo as it comes before ldquoYear Onerdquo of theshorter versions of those degrees The aim of this year asdescribed in the Physics amp Engineering Programme Specifica-tions is to ldquosupply the necessary expertise and experiencerdquorequired for new students to enter a range of Physics or Engi-neering degrees when ldquothey do not already possess the nec-essary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do sordquo
The aims of this Year will be realised by providing you witha ldquobackground and experiencerdquo in physics and mathematicalmethods that is broadly equivalent to a student who has ful-filled the entry requirements (nominally A2 level in Physics ampMaths) The syllabus is designed to be comparable to A-LevelMaths and Physics albeit in a form that can be taught full-timeover 24 weeks
Table 21 lists the Degree Courses that are fed by thePhysicsEngineering Foundation Year These Degree Coursesare from two separate Schools the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing (PSC) and the School of Engineer-ing Both of these Schools are part of the College of Scienceand Technology This year is mainly taught by staff from theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI httpwwwstaruclanacuk) within the PSC The first column of Table 21 lists theDegree Title the second and third columns list the respectiveprogramme codes (unique idents used for paperwork) for therelevant FYE Bachelor and Masters Degrees
This particular Handbook covers the Foundation Year por-tion of your degrees Students should consult the Handbooksfor their individual degree courses for information about YearOne and later employment opportunities the degree accredi-tation and other matters relating to those professions Those
Handbooks will be available from the separate School areason eLearn Blackboard
22 Enrolment and Induction
There will be a Welcome Week prior to the start of teachingAll students are expected to attend the Welcome Week andthe InductionOrientation events that are arranged during thatweek It is important that students complete their online enrol-ment as early as possible
Please make sure you are issued with a UCLan StudentID Card and a University e-mail address You will need theID card to access the library prove your identity and to scanin (prove attendance) at all teaching events The e-mail ad-dress is your key to accessing almost all online material foryour course including teaching materials online assessmentnotices from the Administrative Hub and your electronic timetable
Please see the information in the Welcome e-mails from theAdmissions staff and the Check-list on the Welcome to UCLanwebpage During the Welcome Week help for almost all even-tualities is available from The lt i gt on the Ground Floor of theUCLan Library
23 Tutors and Leads
Whilst you are at UCLan it will be your Academic Adviserand the Year Tutor who deal with matters involving attendancemonitoring initial welfare counselling and programme adviceThey will usually be your first point of contact in many mattersThe role of the Academic Adviser is to act as a liaison betweenyourself and the University The Year Tutors coordinate mattersacross the Year The Year Tutor for Physics is Dr Jason Kirk(JMKirkuclanacuk) while the Year Tutor for Engineering isDr Stephen Kirkup (SMKirkupuclanacuk)
Columns 4 and 5 of Table 21 list the Course Leaders andAcademic Leads for each of the named Degree CoursesCourse Leaders coordinate matters including the delivery andassessment of modules across all years of specific DegreeCourses Academic Leads coordinate matters including aca-demic quality and discipline across a set of related subjectsYou may be referred to these Leads if matters are serious
5
2 COURSE STRUCTURE AND OVERVIEW
Table 21 Table of Foundation Entry Courses that are taught using some or all of the APC80x modules The first columnlists the course title The middle columns list the programme codes for the 4-year Bachelor (BScBEng) and 5-year Masters(MPhysMEngMMath) courses The final two columns list the Course Leader and relevant Academic Lead for each Course
FYE Course Title Y0 Programme Code Course Lead Academic Lead
Bachelor Masters
School of Physical Sciences amp Computing (Head Stew Eyres)
Applied Physics ULAPPH111 ULAPPH112 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Astrophysics ULASPH100 ULASPH111 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Physics With Astro ULPWAS111 ULPWAS112 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Physics ULPHCS100 ULPHCS111 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
School of Engineering (Dean Rob Wallace)
Aerospace Engineering ULAERO110 ULAERO111 Dominic Diston Martin Varley
Architectural Engineering ULAREN111 ULAREN110 Martin Varley
Building Services and SustainableEnergy Engineering
ULBSSE110 Martin Varley
Computer Aided Engineering ULCAEB110 ULCAEB111 Matt Dickinson Martin Varley
Electronic Engineering ULELEN110 ULELEN111 Stephen Sigurnjak Martin Varley
Energy Engineering ULENER110 ULENER111 Martin Varley
Fire Engineering ULFIRE110 ULFIRE111 Martin Varley
Mechanical Engineering ULMECH110 ULMECH111 Justin Whitty Martin Varley
Motor Sports Engineering ULMSEN110 ULMSEN111 Graham Calderbank Martin Varley
Oil and Gas Safety Engineering Martin Varley
Robotics Engineering ULROBO110 ULROBO111 Stephen Mein Martin Varley
Table 22 Table of Administrative Details for each School
Subject E-Mail Address Location
PhysicsAstronomy Fosterhubuclanacuk Foster Admin Hub
Engineering mdash mdash
enough Do not underestimate this escalation as it can andwill result in withdrawal where necessary
From time to time you will be asked to communicate withthe Campus Administrative Service This is the administrationservice that deals with the academic paperwork for the Col-lege Campus Administrative Services are divided into a setof large Hubs that are distributed across the Preston campusTable 22 lists the locations dedicated e-mail addresses
24 The Academic Year
The Academic Year runs from September to August and is di-vided into overlapping terms and semesters Key dates for the2015-16 Academic Year are reproduced in Table 23 Termsare continuous periods of teaching between the major va-cations and are mainly are used for financial matters (figur-
ing maintenance loan payments student fees etc) Term 1runs from the Welcome Week until Christmas Term 2 runsfrom Christmas until Easter and Term 3 runs after EasterSemesters are used for academic matters (modules teachingand examinations) They normally conclude with dedicatedweeks for revision and examinations Semester One runs fromthe Welcome Week until the January exams Semester Tworuns from the end of January until the main May exams All un-dergraduate teaching is contained within Semesters One andTwo Semester Three runs over the summer and is not usedfor undergraduate teaching
All students must attend from the start of induction for theiryear group up to the end of the exams held during the Univer-sityrsquos Central Examination Weeks The exact usage of eachweek by the Teaching Team is specified in the AssessmentSchedule (available on eLearn Blackboard) If you need re-
6
26 Time Table
Table 23 Table of key dates in the 2015-16 AcademicCalendar See the Academic Year webpages (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyacademic_calendarphp)for a fuller breakdown and printable year chart
Date Event
14 Sep 2015 Welcome WeekTerm 1 begins
21 Sep 2015 Semester 1Teaching begins
11 Dec 2015 Term 1 ends
14 Dec 2015 Semester break begins
1 Jan 2016 Semester break ends
4 Jan 2016 Term 2 begins
22 Jan 2016 Semester 1 ends
25 Jan 2016 Semester 2 begins
18 Mar 2016 Term 2 ends
4 Apr 2016 Term 3 begins
20 May 2016 Semester 2Term 3 ends
23 May 2016 Semester 3 begins
26 Aug 2016 Semester 3 ends
assessment it is your responsibility to ensure that you are ableto meet the coursework reassessment deadline set (normallyin the third week of August) and that you are available to attendfor any summer resit examinations Absence due to a familyholiday or similar cause is not accepted as a reason for notattending resits or examinations at any time
25 Modules
The taught material on University courses is divided into Mod-ules discrete learning blocks that are led by a named ModuleLeader Other tutors may lecture or provide tutorial supportbut it is the module leader who is responsible for the assess-ment and content of that module Each module counts for adifferent number of credits Full time study counts as a collec-tion of modules that add up to a total of 120 credits For thiscourse each module counts for 20 credits
The list of modules for this Year can be found in Table 24A complete list of UCLan modules can be found in the OnlineModule Catalogue The list of modules you will study in lateryears can be found in the Course Handbooks for your individ-ual degree courses
Modules will differ in their pattern of assessment but theeventual result with be a percentage grade between 0 and100 A module is considered as ldquopassedrdquo if your grade init is greater than or equal to 40 The credits are only countedif the module is passed at the aforementioned 40 level
Taught material on the course is divided equally betweenphysics and mathematics All students on the Course will takethe same set of three physics modules (APC801 802 and803) These run for the full duration of the year The math-ematics modules are split into two sets Most students will
take the three APC mathematics modules (APC804 5 and 6)these contain equivalent material as A-Level Maths Core 1-4APC804 runs for the first half of the course while APC805 runsfor the second half
If a student has a particular interest in doing a ldquofree-choiceelectiverdquo such as a language as a seventh module it may bepossible for this to be studied as a University Certificate along-side the main course This should be discussed with your Aca-demic Adviser because of the workload implications
26 Time Table
The University uses a single online time tabling system Youwill be able to access your personalised time table via the Stu-dent Portal The online timetable will be updated for roomchanges cancellations and other changes and should bechecked every day for the latest information Changes to thetimetable will be pushed out to the online time table This syn-chronises with the monitors that are outside of each teachingroom and the larger screens that are at the main entrance toeach building
The Foundation Year provides a mix of teaching methodssuch as lectures laboratory work tutorials and seminars Astudent may expect an average of 18 hours per week of con-tact time A typical year-long lecture module has an averageof 3 hours per week of contact time Note that depending oncohort size students may be allocated into pairs or groups forthe laboratory work or tutorials You must attend the tutorial orlab at the time allocated to your group and you cannot changewithout prior permission from the module tutor
Occasionally students will be required to attend rearrangedclasses or extra tutorials at times or on days when they donot normally have classes Students should not commit them-selves to part time jobs that conflict with the academic require-ments of their course Wednesday afternoons are traditionallyleft unscheduled at British Universities to allow for undergrad-uate sporting fixtures and social events
27 Results
Module results are released on myUCLan Final modulemarks are released after the end of Semester 2 on the lastMonday of June In 2016 this is the 27th of June
28 Progression
Progression is the process whereby a student satisfactorilycompletes one year of study and progresses on to the nextyear of their course Discussions about your progressionthrough the course normally take place in February each yearIt is an opportunity for you to make plans for your study overthe next academic year The Course Team will tell you aboutthe various modules combinations available and you will bothagree on the most appropriate (and legal) course of study foryou
All modules must be passed in order for a student toprogress The Foundation Year is designed to provide you withthe minimum required knowledge of physics and mathematics
7
2 COURSE STRUCTURE AND OVERVIEW
Table 24 Available modules on the PhysicsEngineering Foundation Year Column 1 lists the module code column 2 lists themodule title The last column lists whether the module is taught in a single semester or in both semesters (Year Long)
Module Code Module Title Delivery
APC801 Introduction to University Physics Year Long
APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields Year Long
APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics Year Long
APC804 Mathematical Methods Semester One
APC805 Further Mathematical Methods Semester Two
APC806 Graphs and Vectors Year Long
to be able to enter the BScBEng programmes Therefore sim-ply passing all modules at 40 will not adequately prepare youfor student in the first year of the degree programme
281 Progression Criteria
In order to ensure a student can cope with the academic con-tent in Year 1 it has been determined that the following pro-gression criteria will apply
Automatic Admission
Physics Year One 120 credits and an average percentagemark (APM) of at least 60 across all modules allowsthe option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of thePhysicsAstrophysics degree programmes
Engineering Year One 120 credits and an average percent-age mark (APM) of at least 50 across all modules al-lows option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of theEngineering degree programmes
Discretionary Admission
The Course Assessment Boards will consider students for ad-mission with 120 credits and with an APM that is up to 10points below the APM for their respective course (ie 50for Physics 40 for Engineering) Students may be asked toundertake reassessment designed to raise their APM to a levelrequested by the Course Board
Alternative Admission
Students who achieve 120 credits and an APM of at least 40and who are not admitted to a PhysicsEngineering degreemay be offered admission to another degree programme atthe University of Central Lancashire
29 Further Information
291 UCLan Official Web-pages
The following are a few of the public facing UCLan webpagesthat might be useful to you
bull Welcome to UCLan (httpwwwuclanacukstudentsstudynewphp) This is the Welcome pageon uclanacuk that all new students are directed tobefore they arrive This will include check-lists of thingsto do before and during your Welcome here
bull Guide to Student Regulations (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsliferules_regsphp) This page in-cludes the Regulations for the Conduct of Students
bull Academic Regulations (httpwwwuclanacukaqasuacademic_regulationsphp) This page in-cludes the most up to date copies of both the UCLanAcademic Regulations which state how courses andmodules are regulated and the Assessment Handbookwhich details the principles under which assessment isconducted
bull Student Support (httpswwwuclanacukstudents) The central hub for Student Supportwebpages at UCLan Including advise on student lifehealth amp well-being finances study issues and muchmore
bull Academic Calendar (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyacademic_calendarphp) This pagecontains the most up to date version of the UCLanAcademic Calendar
Most student information including the teaching material oneLearn Blackboard and the sources above can be accessedfrom the Student Portal (httpsportaluclanacuk) us-ing your UCLan e-mail user-name and password Additionallystudents can review their enrolment personal details and aca-demic record via the myUCLan online service
292 Independent Sources
bull UCLan SU (httpwwwuclansucouk) The websiteof UCLanrsquos Student Union The Union is able to offer trulyindependent advice to you as it is controlled by the Stu-dent Body not by the University itself
bull Pluto (httppluto-onlinecom) Pluto is the Inde-pendent UCLan Student Newspaper It contains newsstories about Student Life both here and around the coun-try
8
Chapter 3
Before You Arrive
In this chapter we look at the things you bring to Universityndash ideally things you should know and things you should haveprocured You may have received a leaflet and letter aboutmathematics preparation after you accepted the offer to studyon this Course The revision section below replicates the rec-ommendations and resources from that leaflet After that welook at the basic stationary that you will need for your Courseand describe the type of calculator you should have
31 Revision
311 Necessary Skills
Mathematics is a key skill that you will have to develop duringyour time on the Course and it is vitally important that you areup to speed with the full range of GCSE (including Intermedi-ate and Higher tier) Mathematics before you start
Skills and topics that you should ideally be comfortable withinclude
Basic numeracy Including the use of directed (negative)numbers fractions (adding multiplying etc) surds in-dices order of operations highest common factors per-centages significant figures ratios etc
Algebra You should be able to manipulate basic algebraicequations including factorizing of simple quadratics mak-ing a quantity the subject of a formula repeating normalnumerical actions (multiplication factions indices factor-izing) with algebra
Trigonometry The area and angles of a triangle applicationof sine cosine and tangent simple vectors and vectoraddition
Graphs Plotting an xy graph how the equation y = mx +c relates to a straight line how algebraic equations(quadratics etc) can be plotted on such a graph
We will be testing these in the diagnostic test during WelcomeWeek and will offer some remedial help at the start of termHowever your entry into University will be a lot more fun andless stressful if you have got this sorted before you turn up
312 Revision Resources
There are two main resources that we recommend for appli-cants who are having to bring their mathematical skills up tothe level described above The first is a textbook that ac-companies a standalone qualification called the ldquoFoundationsof Mathematicsrdquo and the second is a free website called theldquoKhan Academyrdquo
Foundations of Advanced Mathematics 2nd Edition
This book is the best possible benchmark for the mathematicselement at the start of this course If you revise and practiceeverything contained in this book you will be well equipped totackle the material at the start of the Foundation Year It willget harder but this will give you an excellent head start
This book accompanies a standalone qualification that is de-signed to take a student from intermediate tier GCSE to thestart of AS Level maths While we do not recommend youtake the actual qualification the revision and teaching materi-als available for it are recommended You may also find thesematerials useful if you are studying mathematics for a currentnon-A Level qualification
Full Reference David Snell et al (2003) Foundations ofAdvanced Mathematics 2nd ed London Hodder EducationISBN 9780340869260
Khan Academy
wwwkhanacademyorgThis website is a good online study resource It was put to-
gether by Salman Khan a former hedge fund analyst who re-alized that there was no good free resource for people wantingto learn mathematics The Academy works on a challenge-and-response principle As you attempt problems it noticeswhere you are succeeding and failing and shows you morechallenging material or additional tutorials as necessary
You can spend as little or as much time on there as youwish mdash either to brush up a skill or as the main focus of yourrevision You may even find its format addictive For thosewanting to use the Academy as their main revision route wewould suggest that you take either of the following subjects
The World of Math This gives a broad overview of mathe-matics and includes elementary material where neces-sary wwwkhanacademyorgmath
9
3 BEFORE YOU ARRIVE
Algebra Basics This is a set of materials specifically put to-gether in preparation for US university entrance examswwwkhanacademyorgmathalgebra-basics
313 Additional Resources
There are several additional resources that may be useful toyou Some are free some are not
Bridging GCSE and A-Level Maths by Mark RowlandPublished by Collins ISBN 978-0-00-741023-1 Thisbook covers what you should know from GCSE andindicates where that will lead to at A Level It is about 160pages long with 80 pages of examples and referencesfollowed by 80 pages of problems This may not be souseful if you are too rusty on the GCSE parts
GCSE to A level Jump wwwm4thscomindexphpp=1_12 This website discusses the transition to A-Leveland includes links to several useful resources Werecommend you have a look at the self-audit sheets asthese give good examples of what yoursquoll be facing onyour course
Step UP To A-Level Maths wwwcimtplymouthacukprojectsmepresstep-updefaulthtm This websitelists the skills yoursquoll need to study maths at A-Level andalso includes chapters from a GCSE textbook
Maths Centre wwwmathcentreacuk This site deliverssupport materials (videos and PDF worksheets) free ofcharge to students lecturers and everyone looking forpost-16 maths help
The Jump wwwm4thscomgcse-to-a-level-bridgehtml This is a series of videos that were prepared byM4ths founder Steve Blades There are 30 videos intotal and the first 20 are on YouTube and are linked tofrom Steversquos website
YouTube You will find that there are a lot of helpful videos onYouTube If you get stuck on a topic try a YouTube searchand yoursquoll usually find videos from high school teachersand sometimes university lecturers who have put theirlessons online
32 Stationary
Supplying basic day-to-day style equipment such as pens pa-per and calculators is a studentrsquos responsibility How studentsorganize their work can be highly individualistic Neverthelessit is recommended that all students invest in some basic sta-tionary and something that will allow them to organize the sur-prisingly large amount of paper that will be generated duringtheir studies
The following should be considered as the minimum recom-mended set of equipment
Pens Always make sure that you have got at least one sparepen with youmdashespecially in exams Just as in school weask that students use either blue or black ink during as-sessment Red ink is usually reserved for marking greenink for moderation
Pencil eraser pencil sharpener The received wisdom isthat students use pen for writing and pencil for everythingelse (sketching graphs drawing diagrams etc)
Paper Students have to supply their own paper However theUniversity will provide paper in exams Do not be afraidof using a lot of paper and do not cram too much writingonto a single sheet It is often useful to be able to addnotes or annotations around whatever you have written
Filing You generally have two options here You can eitheruse bound notebooksmdashone per subjectmdashor you can fileloose paper in a binder Both techniques allows you toseparate your notes into different topicslectures
Ruler You will have to draw graphs and diagrams It is veryprobable that you are not Leonard Da Vinci and thus can-not draw an immaculate line free hand Thus a ruler willbe essential
Stapler (and staples)paper clips Something to keep yourlose papers together when they are not in your filing sys-tem Pages of an assignment should always be attachedtogethermdashit is your responsibility to make sure that sub-mitted assignments are in a condition where pages can-not become separated (quite easy when everybodyrsquoswork is piled together)
33 Calculators
In time you will learn to estimate the answers to most calcu-lations on the ldquoback of an enveloperdquo However until then youwill need to use a calculator or app It should be able to handlebasic trigonometry functions (sin cos tan) and their inversespowers (x2
radicx xy) logarithms (base 10 and natural) sci-
entific notation and the ability to work in radians as well asdegrees
If you studied A-Level Maths the calculator you had for thatwill be adequate Good calculator apps are also available onmost computer and mobile phone platforms (eg RealCalc onAndroid Applersquos Calculator for OS X and iOS Windows Cal-culator etc) However phone apps cannot be used in examsand some lecturers may object to you having your phone outin tutorials
We do not prescribe which type of calculator you should useoutside of exam times However you should avoid models thatare too advanced as you will not be able to take them intoexams (see below) A calculator is merely a tool that speedsup a process it will avail you little if you do not first understandthat process It is your responsibility to know how to use yourown calculator
Calculators will be allowed in some exams and youshould bring one to those exams Mobile phones and theirapps are not allowed in exam halls Calculators may not beallowed in some exams particularly those focusing on puremathematics You should check with the Module Leader asto whether a calculator is allowed in the examination for theirModule
Misuse of a calculator is counted as cheating (Unfair Means)under the Exam Regulations A Foundation Year is taught atLevel 3 the same as A-Level we therefore adopt the guideline
10
34 Misc
similar to of the Joint Council for Qualifications1 (the industrybody that represents the A-Level exam boards)
Specifically that in examinations calculators
bull Must not include these functions
ndash Language translators
ndash Symbolic algebra manipulation
ndash Symbolic differentiation or integration
ndash Graphical plotting
ndash Connect to the internet or other machines
bull Must not include retrievable information (eg mathemati-cal formulae text etc)
bull Any programmable memory must be erasable and shouldbe erased prior to the start of any exam
Notes
bull Standard calculator memory is allowed (the standard MMR M+ functions but this must be empty before anyexam begins)
bull Physical constants and unit conversion are allowed solong as those constants and conversions are not user pro-grammable
bull For reference the CASIO FX-85GT Plus is the defaultcalculator that students on our maths degree have in thepast been issued with
34 Misc
bull Carrying stuff around in your bag or rucksack will result init getting batteredmdashbinders become worn holes in paperbecome pulled rulers become chipped Think about thisin advance Possibly leave the full binder in your accom-modation and use card folders to protect notes in transitbefore you file them in the evening Keep your ruler in thesheath that it came in Use a pencil case to keep loosepens pencils etc together
bull There are several stationary shops in town including WHSmiths Staples and Rymans However shop aroundmdashsome shops are decidedly cheaper than others We arescientists and engineers itrsquos functionality that mattersnot style
1As specified in Section 3 of the 2014-15 rsquoICErsquo (Instructions for conductingexaminations)
11
Chapter 4
Text Books
In this Chapter we run down the Course Texts for this Courseand look at other books that might be of relevance Please donot buy the Course Texts yourself These will be distributed toyou upon arrival (the cost is included in your fees)
Any A-Level Physics andor A-Level Maths text book will beuseful to you so bring any existing MathsPhysics books withyou The following Sections also include details of a few othertext books that students might find useful
41 Physics
411 Course Text Introduction to Physics
Introduction to Physics is a full-colour textbook that is linked toa website system called WileyPlus through which you can ac-cess additional resources and a full electronic text of the bookWe will be using WileyPlus as a means of setting assignmentsand homeworks based on material from the Course Text Thisis the book you will be given upon arrival
Full reference John D Cutnell et al (2015) Introduction toPhysics International Student Version 10th ed New JerseyJohn Wiley amp Sons ISBN 9781118651520
412 Additional Texts
bull Jim Breithaupt (2015) Physics 4th ed Basingstoke Pal-grave MacMillan ISBN 9781137443236
bull Gareth Kelly and Nigel Wood (2013) Mathematics for ALevel Physics A Course Companion Cheltenham Illu-minate Publishing
bull Roger Muncaster (1993) A-Level Physics 4th ed Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9780748715848
bull Carol Tear (2013) Maths Skills for A Level Physics Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9781408521205
Breithhauptrsquos Physics is a comparable physics text to Cutnellamp Johnson albeit more compact Muncasterrsquos A-Level Physicsremains a favourite among many A-Level Physics teachersand FE lecturers It can appear rather old school but it is clearprecise and waffle free Muncaster is a text that rewards stu-dents who are willing to study hard The two maths skills books(Kelly amp Woood and Tear) have been written to accompany themathematics that arise in A-Level equivalent Physics The fo-cus here is on the use of maths to solve Physics problemsmore than is on maths for the sake of maths These may beuseful to students who struggle with the application of mathe-matics to physics
42 Mathematics
421 Course Text Foundation Mathematics
Foundation Mathematics is an online only text that is accessi-ble via WileyPlus We will be using WileyPlus as a means ofsetting assignments and homeworks based on material fromthe Course Text Please be aware that a Browser pluging (Wol-framrsquos CDF player) may be necessary to access some contentfrom the bookmdashthese are illustrative applets only and will notimpact upon assessment This is the book you will be givenupon arrival
Full reference Colin Steele et al (2015) Foundation Math-ematics 1st ed New Jersey John Wiley amp Sons ISBN9781118500507
13
4 TEXT BOOKS
422 Additional Texts
bull David Snell et al (2003) Foundations of Advanced Math-ematics 2nd ed London Hodder Education ISBN9780340869260
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2004) Core 1 and 2for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548960
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2005) Core 3 and 4for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548977
Snell et al is an introductory textbook that covers maths ma-terial that spans intermediate-Tier GCSE Maths up to and in-cluding some material from AS-Level Mathematics This wasthe book we recommended for students who have done littleor no A-Level Mathematics before they arrived The Quadlingand Neill textbooks accompany the OCRrsquos A-Level Mathemat-ics We will be covering comparable material in our Mathe-matics Modules Students who take the advanced MAC mathsmodules will be supplied with these books if necessary
43 Study Skills
We will integrate general study skills into our Physics teachinghighlighting where certain skills are important and showcasinghow you can learn more To support this we have chosen agood all round study guide (listed below) as the Course TextThis will be given to you when you arrive at UCLan
Nevertheless there are other books available (including anextensive range from Palgrave) These may be of interest tostudents who know that they have faced study problems in thepast or who are new to studying in a more academic and lessvocational manner
431 Course Text Study Skills For ScienceEngineering amp Technology Students
Itrsquos blurb describes it as an ldquoaccessible student-friendly hand-book that covers all of the essential study skills that will ensureyou get the most out of your Science Engineering or Technol-ogy courserdquo A good all round book that covers academic andpersonal skills We will be using sections from this book as thebasis for some of your skills sessions This is the book you willbe given upon arrival
Full reference Pat Maier Anna Barney and Geraldine Price(2009) Study Skills for Science Engineering and TechnologyStudents Harlow Pearson ISBN 9780273720737
432 Additional Texts
bull Stella Cottrell (2013) The Study Skills Handbook 4th edBasingstroke Palgrave MacMillan ISBN 978113728925
bull David Sands (2004) Studying Physics BasingstrokePalgrave MacMillan ISBN 9781403903280
Stellar Cottrell has established herself as one of the leadingauthors in the field of Study Skills and The Study Skills Hand-book is her flagship volume It contains a lot of practical guidesand information about how to successfully manage your stud-ies Studying Physics describes itself as ldquoa unique guide tothe essential skills in physics you need to acquire by the timeyou graduaterdquo Although this book comes under the PalgraveStudy Skills banner it is really more of an academic text thanmany other Study Skills books It focuses more towards beinga reference text than a self-help one
14
Chapter 5
Frequently Asked Questions
51 Study Time
How much work should I do Courses at UCLan are de-signed with the expectation that students can achieve a suc-cessful result by studying for 10 hours for each credit they needto achieve This includes attendance at UCLan and time spentin private study
Your modules are all worth 20 credits so you should ex-pect to do a minimum of 200 study hours for each of themThat 200-hours contains 3 hours per week of class contacttime (approximately 70 hours) The remaining will be under-taken by you as self-study support work in readiness for theclasses and assessment time The module descriptors (avail-able on eLearn) include an indicative breakdown of how thestudy time may be divided between various activities suchas reviewing lectures trying practice questions and attempt-ing assessments
Do not underestimate the amount of work you need to do toachieve your potential As a rough guide there are about 31weeks in the teaching year (24 in-class weeks 2-3 revisionsweeks amp 4 exam weeks) Six modules at 200 hours per mod-ule equals 1200 hours Spread out over those 31 weeks thisequates to about 39 hours a week ie the same hours as afull time job
Why am I having to work harder do less work than myfriends You may find yourselves having to work harder andput in more hours than some of your friends This is perfectlynatural and is a by-product of your individual experiences
Students who have done either maths or physics A-Levelmdashyou will have sat one or both of these before So even if youdid not get a high grade or only did one of the two you willstill have seen some of this material before That means youmay find yourself having to do less work and put in fewer hoursthan some of your friends Do not become smug There arestill plenty of ways to fail and over-confidence will be the routeto many of them
For a former PhysicsMaths A-Level student the route tosuccess is to use this year productively and to repair problemsthat occurred during your A-Levels Maintain your studies Ifyou slack-off your skills will become unpracticed and you willbe knocked sideways once we get to the really difficult materialin Semester Two
Everybody elsemdashthe disadvantage that you face is that youwill not have seen as much of the material as the former A-Level students Nevertheless some of our best students wereBTEC students who committed themselves from the outsetand ended-up with higher grades than most A-Level students
Ultimately you are trying to learn in one year what it takesmost students two-years to learn The only way for you to suc-ceed is to embrace that challenge
52 Results and Progression
Do I get a separate certificate or qualification for complet-ing the Foundation Year No the Foundation Year is onlythe first year of a longer degree The qualification is that finaldegree certificate
Does the Foundation Year count towards my degreeaward No your average mark for the Foundation Year willonly determine whether you progress to Year One
Will I get a transcript of my results A Transcript lists themodules undertaken credit value and grades achieved duringeach academic session of study The overall result obtainedwill also be indicated You will receive a transcript upon thesuccessful completion of your programme of study
That means you will not automatically receive a paper tran-script at the end of the Foundation Year as your course (thefull degree) has not yet finished Your official module resultsthose accepted by the Assessment Boards will be availableon myUCLan
Please see the Certificates and Awards webpage formore information You may wish to contact Awardcere-moniesuclanacuk if you have a particular need for a papertranscript
I think Irsquom going to fail what should I do We cannot es-cape the unfortunate fact that not every student on this yearwill progress onto Year One of their chosen degree There areacademic standards for progression (the move from one yearof study to the next) that you must meet Failure to meet thosegrades may result in you having to change to a different courseor potentially leave University after only one year
15
5 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Doing well in these skills is merely a measurement of a sin-gle aptitude It is never a measurement of a personrsquos worth ortheir potential in a different field it may just be that your ap-titudes lie elsewhere Struggling against something that youmay not be suited to can in some circumstances lead to anxi-ety and depression
Please do not be frightened in confronting this before theend of the course Your academic adviser can offer guidancethe student support service has a confidential Counseling Ser-vice for anybody feeling overwhelmed and UCLanrsquos careersservices can all help you evaluate the larger picture
16
Chapter 6
Student Finance
In this chapter we look at how your fees will be used and pro-vide guidelines for typical living costs for students in Preston
61 Tuition Fees
Your tuition fees include
bull Scheduled course tuition academic technical and ad-ministrative support use of course equipment and facil-ities
bull Course related induction activities
bull Placement year academic support (where the course in-cludes a placement year)
bull Course assessment and awards
bull Access to the universityrsquos library and online resourcesincluding on-campus wifi networked and remote accessto the universityrsquos virtual learning environment
bull Use of the universityrsquos estate and resources for scheduledactivities and learning support
bull Dissertation project andor thesis printing and bindingwhere the submission of printed and bound documentsis a requirement for assessment of the module
bull Use of the universityrsquos technical equipment and materialsidentified by the course teaching team as essential for thecompletion of the course
bull The extra items listed against your course in Table 61below
62 Living costs
Living costs are not included in your tuition fees You will needto budget for these separately Table 62 includes an indicationof some typical living costs but everyone is different and youare strongly advised to plan your own budget
You may also need to budget for ldquoone offrdquo or irregular costsTable 63 contains a representative list
63 Additional Costs
There are some costs that may be incurred by some but not allstudents and are not included within the Tuition Fees Theseare listed in Table 64
64 Student Finance
If you are dealing with agencies like Student Finance pleaseremember to tell them the full duration of your course TheFoundation Year adds an additional year to the BScBEng de-grees and MPhysMEng degrees making them 4-years and 5-years long respectively
UCLanrsquos Student Finance Support Team are available to ad-vise you on any problems and can provide short term emer-gency loans in some cases
17
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 61 Table of items included in Student Fees
Course Additional items included in the tuition fees for yourcourse
Foundation Year for Courses covered by this Hand-book
Compulsory text books (see Chapter 4)
BSc (Hons) Robotics EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering
IET Membership
BSc (Hons) Physics years 1 2 and 3 Frontier Education events
BSc (Hons) Motorsports Engineering years 1 2 and 3 Imech E Student RegistrationFormula Student
MPhys (Hons) AstrophysicsBEng (Hons) Computer Aided EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic EngineeringBSc (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringBSc (Hons) Motorsports EngineeringBSc (Hons) PhysicsBSc (Hons) Robotics Engineering
Compulsory text books in year one
18
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
2 COURSE STRUCTURE AND OVERVIEW
Table 21 Table of Foundation Entry Courses that are taught using some or all of the APC80x modules The first columnlists the course title The middle columns list the programme codes for the 4-year Bachelor (BScBEng) and 5-year Masters(MPhysMEngMMath) courses The final two columns list the Course Leader and relevant Academic Lead for each Course
FYE Course Title Y0 Programme Code Course Lead Academic Lead
Bachelor Masters
School of Physical Sciences amp Computing (Head Stew Eyres)
Applied Physics ULAPPH111 ULAPPH112 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Astrophysics ULASPH100 ULASPH111 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Physics With Astro ULPWAS111 ULPWAS112 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
Physics ULPHCS100 ULPHCS111 Brett Patterson Ian Butchart
School of Engineering (Dean Rob Wallace)
Aerospace Engineering ULAERO110 ULAERO111 Dominic Diston Martin Varley
Architectural Engineering ULAREN111 ULAREN110 Martin Varley
Building Services and SustainableEnergy Engineering
ULBSSE110 Martin Varley
Computer Aided Engineering ULCAEB110 ULCAEB111 Matt Dickinson Martin Varley
Electronic Engineering ULELEN110 ULELEN111 Stephen Sigurnjak Martin Varley
Energy Engineering ULENER110 ULENER111 Martin Varley
Fire Engineering ULFIRE110 ULFIRE111 Martin Varley
Mechanical Engineering ULMECH110 ULMECH111 Justin Whitty Martin Varley
Motor Sports Engineering ULMSEN110 ULMSEN111 Graham Calderbank Martin Varley
Oil and Gas Safety Engineering Martin Varley
Robotics Engineering ULROBO110 ULROBO111 Stephen Mein Martin Varley
Table 22 Table of Administrative Details for each School
Subject E-Mail Address Location
PhysicsAstronomy Fosterhubuclanacuk Foster Admin Hub
Engineering mdash mdash
enough Do not underestimate this escalation as it can andwill result in withdrawal where necessary
From time to time you will be asked to communicate withthe Campus Administrative Service This is the administrationservice that deals with the academic paperwork for the Col-lege Campus Administrative Services are divided into a setof large Hubs that are distributed across the Preston campusTable 22 lists the locations dedicated e-mail addresses
24 The Academic Year
The Academic Year runs from September to August and is di-vided into overlapping terms and semesters Key dates for the2015-16 Academic Year are reproduced in Table 23 Termsare continuous periods of teaching between the major va-cations and are mainly are used for financial matters (figur-
ing maintenance loan payments student fees etc) Term 1runs from the Welcome Week until Christmas Term 2 runsfrom Christmas until Easter and Term 3 runs after EasterSemesters are used for academic matters (modules teachingand examinations) They normally conclude with dedicatedweeks for revision and examinations Semester One runs fromthe Welcome Week until the January exams Semester Tworuns from the end of January until the main May exams All un-dergraduate teaching is contained within Semesters One andTwo Semester Three runs over the summer and is not usedfor undergraduate teaching
All students must attend from the start of induction for theiryear group up to the end of the exams held during the Univer-sityrsquos Central Examination Weeks The exact usage of eachweek by the Teaching Team is specified in the AssessmentSchedule (available on eLearn Blackboard) If you need re-
6
26 Time Table
Table 23 Table of key dates in the 2015-16 AcademicCalendar See the Academic Year webpages (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyacademic_calendarphp)for a fuller breakdown and printable year chart
Date Event
14 Sep 2015 Welcome WeekTerm 1 begins
21 Sep 2015 Semester 1Teaching begins
11 Dec 2015 Term 1 ends
14 Dec 2015 Semester break begins
1 Jan 2016 Semester break ends
4 Jan 2016 Term 2 begins
22 Jan 2016 Semester 1 ends
25 Jan 2016 Semester 2 begins
18 Mar 2016 Term 2 ends
4 Apr 2016 Term 3 begins
20 May 2016 Semester 2Term 3 ends
23 May 2016 Semester 3 begins
26 Aug 2016 Semester 3 ends
assessment it is your responsibility to ensure that you are ableto meet the coursework reassessment deadline set (normallyin the third week of August) and that you are available to attendfor any summer resit examinations Absence due to a familyholiday or similar cause is not accepted as a reason for notattending resits or examinations at any time
25 Modules
The taught material on University courses is divided into Mod-ules discrete learning blocks that are led by a named ModuleLeader Other tutors may lecture or provide tutorial supportbut it is the module leader who is responsible for the assess-ment and content of that module Each module counts for adifferent number of credits Full time study counts as a collec-tion of modules that add up to a total of 120 credits For thiscourse each module counts for 20 credits
The list of modules for this Year can be found in Table 24A complete list of UCLan modules can be found in the OnlineModule Catalogue The list of modules you will study in lateryears can be found in the Course Handbooks for your individ-ual degree courses
Modules will differ in their pattern of assessment but theeventual result with be a percentage grade between 0 and100 A module is considered as ldquopassedrdquo if your grade init is greater than or equal to 40 The credits are only countedif the module is passed at the aforementioned 40 level
Taught material on the course is divided equally betweenphysics and mathematics All students on the Course will takethe same set of three physics modules (APC801 802 and803) These run for the full duration of the year The math-ematics modules are split into two sets Most students will
take the three APC mathematics modules (APC804 5 and 6)these contain equivalent material as A-Level Maths Core 1-4APC804 runs for the first half of the course while APC805 runsfor the second half
If a student has a particular interest in doing a ldquofree-choiceelectiverdquo such as a language as a seventh module it may bepossible for this to be studied as a University Certificate along-side the main course This should be discussed with your Aca-demic Adviser because of the workload implications
26 Time Table
The University uses a single online time tabling system Youwill be able to access your personalised time table via the Stu-dent Portal The online timetable will be updated for roomchanges cancellations and other changes and should bechecked every day for the latest information Changes to thetimetable will be pushed out to the online time table This syn-chronises with the monitors that are outside of each teachingroom and the larger screens that are at the main entrance toeach building
The Foundation Year provides a mix of teaching methodssuch as lectures laboratory work tutorials and seminars Astudent may expect an average of 18 hours per week of con-tact time A typical year-long lecture module has an averageof 3 hours per week of contact time Note that depending oncohort size students may be allocated into pairs or groups forthe laboratory work or tutorials You must attend the tutorial orlab at the time allocated to your group and you cannot changewithout prior permission from the module tutor
Occasionally students will be required to attend rearrangedclasses or extra tutorials at times or on days when they donot normally have classes Students should not commit them-selves to part time jobs that conflict with the academic require-ments of their course Wednesday afternoons are traditionallyleft unscheduled at British Universities to allow for undergrad-uate sporting fixtures and social events
27 Results
Module results are released on myUCLan Final modulemarks are released after the end of Semester 2 on the lastMonday of June In 2016 this is the 27th of June
28 Progression
Progression is the process whereby a student satisfactorilycompletes one year of study and progresses on to the nextyear of their course Discussions about your progressionthrough the course normally take place in February each yearIt is an opportunity for you to make plans for your study overthe next academic year The Course Team will tell you aboutthe various modules combinations available and you will bothagree on the most appropriate (and legal) course of study foryou
All modules must be passed in order for a student toprogress The Foundation Year is designed to provide you withthe minimum required knowledge of physics and mathematics
7
2 COURSE STRUCTURE AND OVERVIEW
Table 24 Available modules on the PhysicsEngineering Foundation Year Column 1 lists the module code column 2 lists themodule title The last column lists whether the module is taught in a single semester or in both semesters (Year Long)
Module Code Module Title Delivery
APC801 Introduction to University Physics Year Long
APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields Year Long
APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics Year Long
APC804 Mathematical Methods Semester One
APC805 Further Mathematical Methods Semester Two
APC806 Graphs and Vectors Year Long
to be able to enter the BScBEng programmes Therefore sim-ply passing all modules at 40 will not adequately prepare youfor student in the first year of the degree programme
281 Progression Criteria
In order to ensure a student can cope with the academic con-tent in Year 1 it has been determined that the following pro-gression criteria will apply
Automatic Admission
Physics Year One 120 credits and an average percentagemark (APM) of at least 60 across all modules allowsthe option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of thePhysicsAstrophysics degree programmes
Engineering Year One 120 credits and an average percent-age mark (APM) of at least 50 across all modules al-lows option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of theEngineering degree programmes
Discretionary Admission
The Course Assessment Boards will consider students for ad-mission with 120 credits and with an APM that is up to 10points below the APM for their respective course (ie 50for Physics 40 for Engineering) Students may be asked toundertake reassessment designed to raise their APM to a levelrequested by the Course Board
Alternative Admission
Students who achieve 120 credits and an APM of at least 40and who are not admitted to a PhysicsEngineering degreemay be offered admission to another degree programme atthe University of Central Lancashire
29 Further Information
291 UCLan Official Web-pages
The following are a few of the public facing UCLan webpagesthat might be useful to you
bull Welcome to UCLan (httpwwwuclanacukstudentsstudynewphp) This is the Welcome pageon uclanacuk that all new students are directed tobefore they arrive This will include check-lists of thingsto do before and during your Welcome here
bull Guide to Student Regulations (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsliferules_regsphp) This page in-cludes the Regulations for the Conduct of Students
bull Academic Regulations (httpwwwuclanacukaqasuacademic_regulationsphp) This page in-cludes the most up to date copies of both the UCLanAcademic Regulations which state how courses andmodules are regulated and the Assessment Handbookwhich details the principles under which assessment isconducted
bull Student Support (httpswwwuclanacukstudents) The central hub for Student Supportwebpages at UCLan Including advise on student lifehealth amp well-being finances study issues and muchmore
bull Academic Calendar (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyacademic_calendarphp) This pagecontains the most up to date version of the UCLanAcademic Calendar
Most student information including the teaching material oneLearn Blackboard and the sources above can be accessedfrom the Student Portal (httpsportaluclanacuk) us-ing your UCLan e-mail user-name and password Additionallystudents can review their enrolment personal details and aca-demic record via the myUCLan online service
292 Independent Sources
bull UCLan SU (httpwwwuclansucouk) The websiteof UCLanrsquos Student Union The Union is able to offer trulyindependent advice to you as it is controlled by the Stu-dent Body not by the University itself
bull Pluto (httppluto-onlinecom) Pluto is the Inde-pendent UCLan Student Newspaper It contains newsstories about Student Life both here and around the coun-try
8
Chapter 3
Before You Arrive
In this chapter we look at the things you bring to Universityndash ideally things you should know and things you should haveprocured You may have received a leaflet and letter aboutmathematics preparation after you accepted the offer to studyon this Course The revision section below replicates the rec-ommendations and resources from that leaflet After that welook at the basic stationary that you will need for your Courseand describe the type of calculator you should have
31 Revision
311 Necessary Skills
Mathematics is a key skill that you will have to develop duringyour time on the Course and it is vitally important that you areup to speed with the full range of GCSE (including Intermedi-ate and Higher tier) Mathematics before you start
Skills and topics that you should ideally be comfortable withinclude
Basic numeracy Including the use of directed (negative)numbers fractions (adding multiplying etc) surds in-dices order of operations highest common factors per-centages significant figures ratios etc
Algebra You should be able to manipulate basic algebraicequations including factorizing of simple quadratics mak-ing a quantity the subject of a formula repeating normalnumerical actions (multiplication factions indices factor-izing) with algebra
Trigonometry The area and angles of a triangle applicationof sine cosine and tangent simple vectors and vectoraddition
Graphs Plotting an xy graph how the equation y = mx +c relates to a straight line how algebraic equations(quadratics etc) can be plotted on such a graph
We will be testing these in the diagnostic test during WelcomeWeek and will offer some remedial help at the start of termHowever your entry into University will be a lot more fun andless stressful if you have got this sorted before you turn up
312 Revision Resources
There are two main resources that we recommend for appli-cants who are having to bring their mathematical skills up tothe level described above The first is a textbook that ac-companies a standalone qualification called the ldquoFoundationsof Mathematicsrdquo and the second is a free website called theldquoKhan Academyrdquo
Foundations of Advanced Mathematics 2nd Edition
This book is the best possible benchmark for the mathematicselement at the start of this course If you revise and practiceeverything contained in this book you will be well equipped totackle the material at the start of the Foundation Year It willget harder but this will give you an excellent head start
This book accompanies a standalone qualification that is de-signed to take a student from intermediate tier GCSE to thestart of AS Level maths While we do not recommend youtake the actual qualification the revision and teaching materi-als available for it are recommended You may also find thesematerials useful if you are studying mathematics for a currentnon-A Level qualification
Full Reference David Snell et al (2003) Foundations ofAdvanced Mathematics 2nd ed London Hodder EducationISBN 9780340869260
Khan Academy
wwwkhanacademyorgThis website is a good online study resource It was put to-
gether by Salman Khan a former hedge fund analyst who re-alized that there was no good free resource for people wantingto learn mathematics The Academy works on a challenge-and-response principle As you attempt problems it noticeswhere you are succeeding and failing and shows you morechallenging material or additional tutorials as necessary
You can spend as little or as much time on there as youwish mdash either to brush up a skill or as the main focus of yourrevision You may even find its format addictive For thosewanting to use the Academy as their main revision route wewould suggest that you take either of the following subjects
The World of Math This gives a broad overview of mathe-matics and includes elementary material where neces-sary wwwkhanacademyorgmath
9
3 BEFORE YOU ARRIVE
Algebra Basics This is a set of materials specifically put to-gether in preparation for US university entrance examswwwkhanacademyorgmathalgebra-basics
313 Additional Resources
There are several additional resources that may be useful toyou Some are free some are not
Bridging GCSE and A-Level Maths by Mark RowlandPublished by Collins ISBN 978-0-00-741023-1 Thisbook covers what you should know from GCSE andindicates where that will lead to at A Level It is about 160pages long with 80 pages of examples and referencesfollowed by 80 pages of problems This may not be souseful if you are too rusty on the GCSE parts
GCSE to A level Jump wwwm4thscomindexphpp=1_12 This website discusses the transition to A-Leveland includes links to several useful resources Werecommend you have a look at the self-audit sheets asthese give good examples of what yoursquoll be facing onyour course
Step UP To A-Level Maths wwwcimtplymouthacukprojectsmepresstep-updefaulthtm This websitelists the skills yoursquoll need to study maths at A-Level andalso includes chapters from a GCSE textbook
Maths Centre wwwmathcentreacuk This site deliverssupport materials (videos and PDF worksheets) free ofcharge to students lecturers and everyone looking forpost-16 maths help
The Jump wwwm4thscomgcse-to-a-level-bridgehtml This is a series of videos that were prepared byM4ths founder Steve Blades There are 30 videos intotal and the first 20 are on YouTube and are linked tofrom Steversquos website
YouTube You will find that there are a lot of helpful videos onYouTube If you get stuck on a topic try a YouTube searchand yoursquoll usually find videos from high school teachersand sometimes university lecturers who have put theirlessons online
32 Stationary
Supplying basic day-to-day style equipment such as pens pa-per and calculators is a studentrsquos responsibility How studentsorganize their work can be highly individualistic Neverthelessit is recommended that all students invest in some basic sta-tionary and something that will allow them to organize the sur-prisingly large amount of paper that will be generated duringtheir studies
The following should be considered as the minimum recom-mended set of equipment
Pens Always make sure that you have got at least one sparepen with youmdashespecially in exams Just as in school weask that students use either blue or black ink during as-sessment Red ink is usually reserved for marking greenink for moderation
Pencil eraser pencil sharpener The received wisdom isthat students use pen for writing and pencil for everythingelse (sketching graphs drawing diagrams etc)
Paper Students have to supply their own paper However theUniversity will provide paper in exams Do not be afraidof using a lot of paper and do not cram too much writingonto a single sheet It is often useful to be able to addnotes or annotations around whatever you have written
Filing You generally have two options here You can eitheruse bound notebooksmdashone per subjectmdashor you can fileloose paper in a binder Both techniques allows you toseparate your notes into different topicslectures
Ruler You will have to draw graphs and diagrams It is veryprobable that you are not Leonard Da Vinci and thus can-not draw an immaculate line free hand Thus a ruler willbe essential
Stapler (and staples)paper clips Something to keep yourlose papers together when they are not in your filing sys-tem Pages of an assignment should always be attachedtogethermdashit is your responsibility to make sure that sub-mitted assignments are in a condition where pages can-not become separated (quite easy when everybodyrsquoswork is piled together)
33 Calculators
In time you will learn to estimate the answers to most calcu-lations on the ldquoback of an enveloperdquo However until then youwill need to use a calculator or app It should be able to handlebasic trigonometry functions (sin cos tan) and their inversespowers (x2
radicx xy) logarithms (base 10 and natural) sci-
entific notation and the ability to work in radians as well asdegrees
If you studied A-Level Maths the calculator you had for thatwill be adequate Good calculator apps are also available onmost computer and mobile phone platforms (eg RealCalc onAndroid Applersquos Calculator for OS X and iOS Windows Cal-culator etc) However phone apps cannot be used in examsand some lecturers may object to you having your phone outin tutorials
We do not prescribe which type of calculator you should useoutside of exam times However you should avoid models thatare too advanced as you will not be able to take them intoexams (see below) A calculator is merely a tool that speedsup a process it will avail you little if you do not first understandthat process It is your responsibility to know how to use yourown calculator
Calculators will be allowed in some exams and youshould bring one to those exams Mobile phones and theirapps are not allowed in exam halls Calculators may not beallowed in some exams particularly those focusing on puremathematics You should check with the Module Leader asto whether a calculator is allowed in the examination for theirModule
Misuse of a calculator is counted as cheating (Unfair Means)under the Exam Regulations A Foundation Year is taught atLevel 3 the same as A-Level we therefore adopt the guideline
10
34 Misc
similar to of the Joint Council for Qualifications1 (the industrybody that represents the A-Level exam boards)
Specifically that in examinations calculators
bull Must not include these functions
ndash Language translators
ndash Symbolic algebra manipulation
ndash Symbolic differentiation or integration
ndash Graphical plotting
ndash Connect to the internet or other machines
bull Must not include retrievable information (eg mathemati-cal formulae text etc)
bull Any programmable memory must be erasable and shouldbe erased prior to the start of any exam
Notes
bull Standard calculator memory is allowed (the standard MMR M+ functions but this must be empty before anyexam begins)
bull Physical constants and unit conversion are allowed solong as those constants and conversions are not user pro-grammable
bull For reference the CASIO FX-85GT Plus is the defaultcalculator that students on our maths degree have in thepast been issued with
34 Misc
bull Carrying stuff around in your bag or rucksack will result init getting batteredmdashbinders become worn holes in paperbecome pulled rulers become chipped Think about thisin advance Possibly leave the full binder in your accom-modation and use card folders to protect notes in transitbefore you file them in the evening Keep your ruler in thesheath that it came in Use a pencil case to keep loosepens pencils etc together
bull There are several stationary shops in town including WHSmiths Staples and Rymans However shop aroundmdashsome shops are decidedly cheaper than others We arescientists and engineers itrsquos functionality that mattersnot style
1As specified in Section 3 of the 2014-15 rsquoICErsquo (Instructions for conductingexaminations)
11
Chapter 4
Text Books
In this Chapter we run down the Course Texts for this Courseand look at other books that might be of relevance Please donot buy the Course Texts yourself These will be distributed toyou upon arrival (the cost is included in your fees)
Any A-Level Physics andor A-Level Maths text book will beuseful to you so bring any existing MathsPhysics books withyou The following Sections also include details of a few othertext books that students might find useful
41 Physics
411 Course Text Introduction to Physics
Introduction to Physics is a full-colour textbook that is linked toa website system called WileyPlus through which you can ac-cess additional resources and a full electronic text of the bookWe will be using WileyPlus as a means of setting assignmentsand homeworks based on material from the Course Text Thisis the book you will be given upon arrival
Full reference John D Cutnell et al (2015) Introduction toPhysics International Student Version 10th ed New JerseyJohn Wiley amp Sons ISBN 9781118651520
412 Additional Texts
bull Jim Breithaupt (2015) Physics 4th ed Basingstoke Pal-grave MacMillan ISBN 9781137443236
bull Gareth Kelly and Nigel Wood (2013) Mathematics for ALevel Physics A Course Companion Cheltenham Illu-minate Publishing
bull Roger Muncaster (1993) A-Level Physics 4th ed Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9780748715848
bull Carol Tear (2013) Maths Skills for A Level Physics Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9781408521205
Breithhauptrsquos Physics is a comparable physics text to Cutnellamp Johnson albeit more compact Muncasterrsquos A-Level Physicsremains a favourite among many A-Level Physics teachersand FE lecturers It can appear rather old school but it is clearprecise and waffle free Muncaster is a text that rewards stu-dents who are willing to study hard The two maths skills books(Kelly amp Woood and Tear) have been written to accompany themathematics that arise in A-Level equivalent Physics The fo-cus here is on the use of maths to solve Physics problemsmore than is on maths for the sake of maths These may beuseful to students who struggle with the application of mathe-matics to physics
42 Mathematics
421 Course Text Foundation Mathematics
Foundation Mathematics is an online only text that is accessi-ble via WileyPlus We will be using WileyPlus as a means ofsetting assignments and homeworks based on material fromthe Course Text Please be aware that a Browser pluging (Wol-framrsquos CDF player) may be necessary to access some contentfrom the bookmdashthese are illustrative applets only and will notimpact upon assessment This is the book you will be givenupon arrival
Full reference Colin Steele et al (2015) Foundation Math-ematics 1st ed New Jersey John Wiley amp Sons ISBN9781118500507
13
4 TEXT BOOKS
422 Additional Texts
bull David Snell et al (2003) Foundations of Advanced Math-ematics 2nd ed London Hodder Education ISBN9780340869260
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2004) Core 1 and 2for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548960
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2005) Core 3 and 4for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548977
Snell et al is an introductory textbook that covers maths ma-terial that spans intermediate-Tier GCSE Maths up to and in-cluding some material from AS-Level Mathematics This wasthe book we recommended for students who have done littleor no A-Level Mathematics before they arrived The Quadlingand Neill textbooks accompany the OCRrsquos A-Level Mathemat-ics We will be covering comparable material in our Mathe-matics Modules Students who take the advanced MAC mathsmodules will be supplied with these books if necessary
43 Study Skills
We will integrate general study skills into our Physics teachinghighlighting where certain skills are important and showcasinghow you can learn more To support this we have chosen agood all round study guide (listed below) as the Course TextThis will be given to you when you arrive at UCLan
Nevertheless there are other books available (including anextensive range from Palgrave) These may be of interest tostudents who know that they have faced study problems in thepast or who are new to studying in a more academic and lessvocational manner
431 Course Text Study Skills For ScienceEngineering amp Technology Students
Itrsquos blurb describes it as an ldquoaccessible student-friendly hand-book that covers all of the essential study skills that will ensureyou get the most out of your Science Engineering or Technol-ogy courserdquo A good all round book that covers academic andpersonal skills We will be using sections from this book as thebasis for some of your skills sessions This is the book you willbe given upon arrival
Full reference Pat Maier Anna Barney and Geraldine Price(2009) Study Skills for Science Engineering and TechnologyStudents Harlow Pearson ISBN 9780273720737
432 Additional Texts
bull Stella Cottrell (2013) The Study Skills Handbook 4th edBasingstroke Palgrave MacMillan ISBN 978113728925
bull David Sands (2004) Studying Physics BasingstrokePalgrave MacMillan ISBN 9781403903280
Stellar Cottrell has established herself as one of the leadingauthors in the field of Study Skills and The Study Skills Hand-book is her flagship volume It contains a lot of practical guidesand information about how to successfully manage your stud-ies Studying Physics describes itself as ldquoa unique guide tothe essential skills in physics you need to acquire by the timeyou graduaterdquo Although this book comes under the PalgraveStudy Skills banner it is really more of an academic text thanmany other Study Skills books It focuses more towards beinga reference text than a self-help one
14
Chapter 5
Frequently Asked Questions
51 Study Time
How much work should I do Courses at UCLan are de-signed with the expectation that students can achieve a suc-cessful result by studying for 10 hours for each credit they needto achieve This includes attendance at UCLan and time spentin private study
Your modules are all worth 20 credits so you should ex-pect to do a minimum of 200 study hours for each of themThat 200-hours contains 3 hours per week of class contacttime (approximately 70 hours) The remaining will be under-taken by you as self-study support work in readiness for theclasses and assessment time The module descriptors (avail-able on eLearn) include an indicative breakdown of how thestudy time may be divided between various activities suchas reviewing lectures trying practice questions and attempt-ing assessments
Do not underestimate the amount of work you need to do toachieve your potential As a rough guide there are about 31weeks in the teaching year (24 in-class weeks 2-3 revisionsweeks amp 4 exam weeks) Six modules at 200 hours per mod-ule equals 1200 hours Spread out over those 31 weeks thisequates to about 39 hours a week ie the same hours as afull time job
Why am I having to work harder do less work than myfriends You may find yourselves having to work harder andput in more hours than some of your friends This is perfectlynatural and is a by-product of your individual experiences
Students who have done either maths or physics A-Levelmdashyou will have sat one or both of these before So even if youdid not get a high grade or only did one of the two you willstill have seen some of this material before That means youmay find yourself having to do less work and put in fewer hoursthan some of your friends Do not become smug There arestill plenty of ways to fail and over-confidence will be the routeto many of them
For a former PhysicsMaths A-Level student the route tosuccess is to use this year productively and to repair problemsthat occurred during your A-Levels Maintain your studies Ifyou slack-off your skills will become unpracticed and you willbe knocked sideways once we get to the really difficult materialin Semester Two
Everybody elsemdashthe disadvantage that you face is that youwill not have seen as much of the material as the former A-Level students Nevertheless some of our best students wereBTEC students who committed themselves from the outsetand ended-up with higher grades than most A-Level students
Ultimately you are trying to learn in one year what it takesmost students two-years to learn The only way for you to suc-ceed is to embrace that challenge
52 Results and Progression
Do I get a separate certificate or qualification for complet-ing the Foundation Year No the Foundation Year is onlythe first year of a longer degree The qualification is that finaldegree certificate
Does the Foundation Year count towards my degreeaward No your average mark for the Foundation Year willonly determine whether you progress to Year One
Will I get a transcript of my results A Transcript lists themodules undertaken credit value and grades achieved duringeach academic session of study The overall result obtainedwill also be indicated You will receive a transcript upon thesuccessful completion of your programme of study
That means you will not automatically receive a paper tran-script at the end of the Foundation Year as your course (thefull degree) has not yet finished Your official module resultsthose accepted by the Assessment Boards will be availableon myUCLan
Please see the Certificates and Awards webpage formore information You may wish to contact Awardcere-moniesuclanacuk if you have a particular need for a papertranscript
I think Irsquom going to fail what should I do We cannot es-cape the unfortunate fact that not every student on this yearwill progress onto Year One of their chosen degree There areacademic standards for progression (the move from one yearof study to the next) that you must meet Failure to meet thosegrades may result in you having to change to a different courseor potentially leave University after only one year
15
5 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Doing well in these skills is merely a measurement of a sin-gle aptitude It is never a measurement of a personrsquos worth ortheir potential in a different field it may just be that your ap-titudes lie elsewhere Struggling against something that youmay not be suited to can in some circumstances lead to anxi-ety and depression
Please do not be frightened in confronting this before theend of the course Your academic adviser can offer guidancethe student support service has a confidential Counseling Ser-vice for anybody feeling overwhelmed and UCLanrsquos careersservices can all help you evaluate the larger picture
16
Chapter 6
Student Finance
In this chapter we look at how your fees will be used and pro-vide guidelines for typical living costs for students in Preston
61 Tuition Fees
Your tuition fees include
bull Scheduled course tuition academic technical and ad-ministrative support use of course equipment and facil-ities
bull Course related induction activities
bull Placement year academic support (where the course in-cludes a placement year)
bull Course assessment and awards
bull Access to the universityrsquos library and online resourcesincluding on-campus wifi networked and remote accessto the universityrsquos virtual learning environment
bull Use of the universityrsquos estate and resources for scheduledactivities and learning support
bull Dissertation project andor thesis printing and bindingwhere the submission of printed and bound documentsis a requirement for assessment of the module
bull Use of the universityrsquos technical equipment and materialsidentified by the course teaching team as essential for thecompletion of the course
bull The extra items listed against your course in Table 61below
62 Living costs
Living costs are not included in your tuition fees You will needto budget for these separately Table 62 includes an indicationof some typical living costs but everyone is different and youare strongly advised to plan your own budget
You may also need to budget for ldquoone offrdquo or irregular costsTable 63 contains a representative list
63 Additional Costs
There are some costs that may be incurred by some but not allstudents and are not included within the Tuition Fees Theseare listed in Table 64
64 Student Finance
If you are dealing with agencies like Student Finance pleaseremember to tell them the full duration of your course TheFoundation Year adds an additional year to the BScBEng de-grees and MPhysMEng degrees making them 4-years and 5-years long respectively
UCLanrsquos Student Finance Support Team are available to ad-vise you on any problems and can provide short term emer-gency loans in some cases
17
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 61 Table of items included in Student Fees
Course Additional items included in the tuition fees for yourcourse
Foundation Year for Courses covered by this Hand-book
Compulsory text books (see Chapter 4)
BSc (Hons) Robotics EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering
IET Membership
BSc (Hons) Physics years 1 2 and 3 Frontier Education events
BSc (Hons) Motorsports Engineering years 1 2 and 3 Imech E Student RegistrationFormula Student
MPhys (Hons) AstrophysicsBEng (Hons) Computer Aided EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic EngineeringBSc (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringBSc (Hons) Motorsports EngineeringBSc (Hons) PhysicsBSc (Hons) Robotics Engineering
Compulsory text books in year one
18
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
26 Time Table
Table 23 Table of key dates in the 2015-16 AcademicCalendar See the Academic Year webpages (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyacademic_calendarphp)for a fuller breakdown and printable year chart
Date Event
14 Sep 2015 Welcome WeekTerm 1 begins
21 Sep 2015 Semester 1Teaching begins
11 Dec 2015 Term 1 ends
14 Dec 2015 Semester break begins
1 Jan 2016 Semester break ends
4 Jan 2016 Term 2 begins
22 Jan 2016 Semester 1 ends
25 Jan 2016 Semester 2 begins
18 Mar 2016 Term 2 ends
4 Apr 2016 Term 3 begins
20 May 2016 Semester 2Term 3 ends
23 May 2016 Semester 3 begins
26 Aug 2016 Semester 3 ends
assessment it is your responsibility to ensure that you are ableto meet the coursework reassessment deadline set (normallyin the third week of August) and that you are available to attendfor any summer resit examinations Absence due to a familyholiday or similar cause is not accepted as a reason for notattending resits or examinations at any time
25 Modules
The taught material on University courses is divided into Mod-ules discrete learning blocks that are led by a named ModuleLeader Other tutors may lecture or provide tutorial supportbut it is the module leader who is responsible for the assess-ment and content of that module Each module counts for adifferent number of credits Full time study counts as a collec-tion of modules that add up to a total of 120 credits For thiscourse each module counts for 20 credits
The list of modules for this Year can be found in Table 24A complete list of UCLan modules can be found in the OnlineModule Catalogue The list of modules you will study in lateryears can be found in the Course Handbooks for your individ-ual degree courses
Modules will differ in their pattern of assessment but theeventual result with be a percentage grade between 0 and100 A module is considered as ldquopassedrdquo if your grade init is greater than or equal to 40 The credits are only countedif the module is passed at the aforementioned 40 level
Taught material on the course is divided equally betweenphysics and mathematics All students on the Course will takethe same set of three physics modules (APC801 802 and803) These run for the full duration of the year The math-ematics modules are split into two sets Most students will
take the three APC mathematics modules (APC804 5 and 6)these contain equivalent material as A-Level Maths Core 1-4APC804 runs for the first half of the course while APC805 runsfor the second half
If a student has a particular interest in doing a ldquofree-choiceelectiverdquo such as a language as a seventh module it may bepossible for this to be studied as a University Certificate along-side the main course This should be discussed with your Aca-demic Adviser because of the workload implications
26 Time Table
The University uses a single online time tabling system Youwill be able to access your personalised time table via the Stu-dent Portal The online timetable will be updated for roomchanges cancellations and other changes and should bechecked every day for the latest information Changes to thetimetable will be pushed out to the online time table This syn-chronises with the monitors that are outside of each teachingroom and the larger screens that are at the main entrance toeach building
The Foundation Year provides a mix of teaching methodssuch as lectures laboratory work tutorials and seminars Astudent may expect an average of 18 hours per week of con-tact time A typical year-long lecture module has an averageof 3 hours per week of contact time Note that depending oncohort size students may be allocated into pairs or groups forthe laboratory work or tutorials You must attend the tutorial orlab at the time allocated to your group and you cannot changewithout prior permission from the module tutor
Occasionally students will be required to attend rearrangedclasses or extra tutorials at times or on days when they donot normally have classes Students should not commit them-selves to part time jobs that conflict with the academic require-ments of their course Wednesday afternoons are traditionallyleft unscheduled at British Universities to allow for undergrad-uate sporting fixtures and social events
27 Results
Module results are released on myUCLan Final modulemarks are released after the end of Semester 2 on the lastMonday of June In 2016 this is the 27th of June
28 Progression
Progression is the process whereby a student satisfactorilycompletes one year of study and progresses on to the nextyear of their course Discussions about your progressionthrough the course normally take place in February each yearIt is an opportunity for you to make plans for your study overthe next academic year The Course Team will tell you aboutthe various modules combinations available and you will bothagree on the most appropriate (and legal) course of study foryou
All modules must be passed in order for a student toprogress The Foundation Year is designed to provide you withthe minimum required knowledge of physics and mathematics
7
2 COURSE STRUCTURE AND OVERVIEW
Table 24 Available modules on the PhysicsEngineering Foundation Year Column 1 lists the module code column 2 lists themodule title The last column lists whether the module is taught in a single semester or in both semesters (Year Long)
Module Code Module Title Delivery
APC801 Introduction to University Physics Year Long
APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields Year Long
APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics Year Long
APC804 Mathematical Methods Semester One
APC805 Further Mathematical Methods Semester Two
APC806 Graphs and Vectors Year Long
to be able to enter the BScBEng programmes Therefore sim-ply passing all modules at 40 will not adequately prepare youfor student in the first year of the degree programme
281 Progression Criteria
In order to ensure a student can cope with the academic con-tent in Year 1 it has been determined that the following pro-gression criteria will apply
Automatic Admission
Physics Year One 120 credits and an average percentagemark (APM) of at least 60 across all modules allowsthe option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of thePhysicsAstrophysics degree programmes
Engineering Year One 120 credits and an average percent-age mark (APM) of at least 50 across all modules al-lows option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of theEngineering degree programmes
Discretionary Admission
The Course Assessment Boards will consider students for ad-mission with 120 credits and with an APM that is up to 10points below the APM for their respective course (ie 50for Physics 40 for Engineering) Students may be asked toundertake reassessment designed to raise their APM to a levelrequested by the Course Board
Alternative Admission
Students who achieve 120 credits and an APM of at least 40and who are not admitted to a PhysicsEngineering degreemay be offered admission to another degree programme atthe University of Central Lancashire
29 Further Information
291 UCLan Official Web-pages
The following are a few of the public facing UCLan webpagesthat might be useful to you
bull Welcome to UCLan (httpwwwuclanacukstudentsstudynewphp) This is the Welcome pageon uclanacuk that all new students are directed tobefore they arrive This will include check-lists of thingsto do before and during your Welcome here
bull Guide to Student Regulations (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsliferules_regsphp) This page in-cludes the Regulations for the Conduct of Students
bull Academic Regulations (httpwwwuclanacukaqasuacademic_regulationsphp) This page in-cludes the most up to date copies of both the UCLanAcademic Regulations which state how courses andmodules are regulated and the Assessment Handbookwhich details the principles under which assessment isconducted
bull Student Support (httpswwwuclanacukstudents) The central hub for Student Supportwebpages at UCLan Including advise on student lifehealth amp well-being finances study issues and muchmore
bull Academic Calendar (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyacademic_calendarphp) This pagecontains the most up to date version of the UCLanAcademic Calendar
Most student information including the teaching material oneLearn Blackboard and the sources above can be accessedfrom the Student Portal (httpsportaluclanacuk) us-ing your UCLan e-mail user-name and password Additionallystudents can review their enrolment personal details and aca-demic record via the myUCLan online service
292 Independent Sources
bull UCLan SU (httpwwwuclansucouk) The websiteof UCLanrsquos Student Union The Union is able to offer trulyindependent advice to you as it is controlled by the Stu-dent Body not by the University itself
bull Pluto (httppluto-onlinecom) Pluto is the Inde-pendent UCLan Student Newspaper It contains newsstories about Student Life both here and around the coun-try
8
Chapter 3
Before You Arrive
In this chapter we look at the things you bring to Universityndash ideally things you should know and things you should haveprocured You may have received a leaflet and letter aboutmathematics preparation after you accepted the offer to studyon this Course The revision section below replicates the rec-ommendations and resources from that leaflet After that welook at the basic stationary that you will need for your Courseand describe the type of calculator you should have
31 Revision
311 Necessary Skills
Mathematics is a key skill that you will have to develop duringyour time on the Course and it is vitally important that you areup to speed with the full range of GCSE (including Intermedi-ate and Higher tier) Mathematics before you start
Skills and topics that you should ideally be comfortable withinclude
Basic numeracy Including the use of directed (negative)numbers fractions (adding multiplying etc) surds in-dices order of operations highest common factors per-centages significant figures ratios etc
Algebra You should be able to manipulate basic algebraicequations including factorizing of simple quadratics mak-ing a quantity the subject of a formula repeating normalnumerical actions (multiplication factions indices factor-izing) with algebra
Trigonometry The area and angles of a triangle applicationof sine cosine and tangent simple vectors and vectoraddition
Graphs Plotting an xy graph how the equation y = mx +c relates to a straight line how algebraic equations(quadratics etc) can be plotted on such a graph
We will be testing these in the diagnostic test during WelcomeWeek and will offer some remedial help at the start of termHowever your entry into University will be a lot more fun andless stressful if you have got this sorted before you turn up
312 Revision Resources
There are two main resources that we recommend for appli-cants who are having to bring their mathematical skills up tothe level described above The first is a textbook that ac-companies a standalone qualification called the ldquoFoundationsof Mathematicsrdquo and the second is a free website called theldquoKhan Academyrdquo
Foundations of Advanced Mathematics 2nd Edition
This book is the best possible benchmark for the mathematicselement at the start of this course If you revise and practiceeverything contained in this book you will be well equipped totackle the material at the start of the Foundation Year It willget harder but this will give you an excellent head start
This book accompanies a standalone qualification that is de-signed to take a student from intermediate tier GCSE to thestart of AS Level maths While we do not recommend youtake the actual qualification the revision and teaching materi-als available for it are recommended You may also find thesematerials useful if you are studying mathematics for a currentnon-A Level qualification
Full Reference David Snell et al (2003) Foundations ofAdvanced Mathematics 2nd ed London Hodder EducationISBN 9780340869260
Khan Academy
wwwkhanacademyorgThis website is a good online study resource It was put to-
gether by Salman Khan a former hedge fund analyst who re-alized that there was no good free resource for people wantingto learn mathematics The Academy works on a challenge-and-response principle As you attempt problems it noticeswhere you are succeeding and failing and shows you morechallenging material or additional tutorials as necessary
You can spend as little or as much time on there as youwish mdash either to brush up a skill or as the main focus of yourrevision You may even find its format addictive For thosewanting to use the Academy as their main revision route wewould suggest that you take either of the following subjects
The World of Math This gives a broad overview of mathe-matics and includes elementary material where neces-sary wwwkhanacademyorgmath
9
3 BEFORE YOU ARRIVE
Algebra Basics This is a set of materials specifically put to-gether in preparation for US university entrance examswwwkhanacademyorgmathalgebra-basics
313 Additional Resources
There are several additional resources that may be useful toyou Some are free some are not
Bridging GCSE and A-Level Maths by Mark RowlandPublished by Collins ISBN 978-0-00-741023-1 Thisbook covers what you should know from GCSE andindicates where that will lead to at A Level It is about 160pages long with 80 pages of examples and referencesfollowed by 80 pages of problems This may not be souseful if you are too rusty on the GCSE parts
GCSE to A level Jump wwwm4thscomindexphpp=1_12 This website discusses the transition to A-Leveland includes links to several useful resources Werecommend you have a look at the self-audit sheets asthese give good examples of what yoursquoll be facing onyour course
Step UP To A-Level Maths wwwcimtplymouthacukprojectsmepresstep-updefaulthtm This websitelists the skills yoursquoll need to study maths at A-Level andalso includes chapters from a GCSE textbook
Maths Centre wwwmathcentreacuk This site deliverssupport materials (videos and PDF worksheets) free ofcharge to students lecturers and everyone looking forpost-16 maths help
The Jump wwwm4thscomgcse-to-a-level-bridgehtml This is a series of videos that were prepared byM4ths founder Steve Blades There are 30 videos intotal and the first 20 are on YouTube and are linked tofrom Steversquos website
YouTube You will find that there are a lot of helpful videos onYouTube If you get stuck on a topic try a YouTube searchand yoursquoll usually find videos from high school teachersand sometimes university lecturers who have put theirlessons online
32 Stationary
Supplying basic day-to-day style equipment such as pens pa-per and calculators is a studentrsquos responsibility How studentsorganize their work can be highly individualistic Neverthelessit is recommended that all students invest in some basic sta-tionary and something that will allow them to organize the sur-prisingly large amount of paper that will be generated duringtheir studies
The following should be considered as the minimum recom-mended set of equipment
Pens Always make sure that you have got at least one sparepen with youmdashespecially in exams Just as in school weask that students use either blue or black ink during as-sessment Red ink is usually reserved for marking greenink for moderation
Pencil eraser pencil sharpener The received wisdom isthat students use pen for writing and pencil for everythingelse (sketching graphs drawing diagrams etc)
Paper Students have to supply their own paper However theUniversity will provide paper in exams Do not be afraidof using a lot of paper and do not cram too much writingonto a single sheet It is often useful to be able to addnotes or annotations around whatever you have written
Filing You generally have two options here You can eitheruse bound notebooksmdashone per subjectmdashor you can fileloose paper in a binder Both techniques allows you toseparate your notes into different topicslectures
Ruler You will have to draw graphs and diagrams It is veryprobable that you are not Leonard Da Vinci and thus can-not draw an immaculate line free hand Thus a ruler willbe essential
Stapler (and staples)paper clips Something to keep yourlose papers together when they are not in your filing sys-tem Pages of an assignment should always be attachedtogethermdashit is your responsibility to make sure that sub-mitted assignments are in a condition where pages can-not become separated (quite easy when everybodyrsquoswork is piled together)
33 Calculators
In time you will learn to estimate the answers to most calcu-lations on the ldquoback of an enveloperdquo However until then youwill need to use a calculator or app It should be able to handlebasic trigonometry functions (sin cos tan) and their inversespowers (x2
radicx xy) logarithms (base 10 and natural) sci-
entific notation and the ability to work in radians as well asdegrees
If you studied A-Level Maths the calculator you had for thatwill be adequate Good calculator apps are also available onmost computer and mobile phone platforms (eg RealCalc onAndroid Applersquos Calculator for OS X and iOS Windows Cal-culator etc) However phone apps cannot be used in examsand some lecturers may object to you having your phone outin tutorials
We do not prescribe which type of calculator you should useoutside of exam times However you should avoid models thatare too advanced as you will not be able to take them intoexams (see below) A calculator is merely a tool that speedsup a process it will avail you little if you do not first understandthat process It is your responsibility to know how to use yourown calculator
Calculators will be allowed in some exams and youshould bring one to those exams Mobile phones and theirapps are not allowed in exam halls Calculators may not beallowed in some exams particularly those focusing on puremathematics You should check with the Module Leader asto whether a calculator is allowed in the examination for theirModule
Misuse of a calculator is counted as cheating (Unfair Means)under the Exam Regulations A Foundation Year is taught atLevel 3 the same as A-Level we therefore adopt the guideline
10
34 Misc
similar to of the Joint Council for Qualifications1 (the industrybody that represents the A-Level exam boards)
Specifically that in examinations calculators
bull Must not include these functions
ndash Language translators
ndash Symbolic algebra manipulation
ndash Symbolic differentiation or integration
ndash Graphical plotting
ndash Connect to the internet or other machines
bull Must not include retrievable information (eg mathemati-cal formulae text etc)
bull Any programmable memory must be erasable and shouldbe erased prior to the start of any exam
Notes
bull Standard calculator memory is allowed (the standard MMR M+ functions but this must be empty before anyexam begins)
bull Physical constants and unit conversion are allowed solong as those constants and conversions are not user pro-grammable
bull For reference the CASIO FX-85GT Plus is the defaultcalculator that students on our maths degree have in thepast been issued with
34 Misc
bull Carrying stuff around in your bag or rucksack will result init getting batteredmdashbinders become worn holes in paperbecome pulled rulers become chipped Think about thisin advance Possibly leave the full binder in your accom-modation and use card folders to protect notes in transitbefore you file them in the evening Keep your ruler in thesheath that it came in Use a pencil case to keep loosepens pencils etc together
bull There are several stationary shops in town including WHSmiths Staples and Rymans However shop aroundmdashsome shops are decidedly cheaper than others We arescientists and engineers itrsquos functionality that mattersnot style
1As specified in Section 3 of the 2014-15 rsquoICErsquo (Instructions for conductingexaminations)
11
Chapter 4
Text Books
In this Chapter we run down the Course Texts for this Courseand look at other books that might be of relevance Please donot buy the Course Texts yourself These will be distributed toyou upon arrival (the cost is included in your fees)
Any A-Level Physics andor A-Level Maths text book will beuseful to you so bring any existing MathsPhysics books withyou The following Sections also include details of a few othertext books that students might find useful
41 Physics
411 Course Text Introduction to Physics
Introduction to Physics is a full-colour textbook that is linked toa website system called WileyPlus through which you can ac-cess additional resources and a full electronic text of the bookWe will be using WileyPlus as a means of setting assignmentsand homeworks based on material from the Course Text Thisis the book you will be given upon arrival
Full reference John D Cutnell et al (2015) Introduction toPhysics International Student Version 10th ed New JerseyJohn Wiley amp Sons ISBN 9781118651520
412 Additional Texts
bull Jim Breithaupt (2015) Physics 4th ed Basingstoke Pal-grave MacMillan ISBN 9781137443236
bull Gareth Kelly and Nigel Wood (2013) Mathematics for ALevel Physics A Course Companion Cheltenham Illu-minate Publishing
bull Roger Muncaster (1993) A-Level Physics 4th ed Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9780748715848
bull Carol Tear (2013) Maths Skills for A Level Physics Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9781408521205
Breithhauptrsquos Physics is a comparable physics text to Cutnellamp Johnson albeit more compact Muncasterrsquos A-Level Physicsremains a favourite among many A-Level Physics teachersand FE lecturers It can appear rather old school but it is clearprecise and waffle free Muncaster is a text that rewards stu-dents who are willing to study hard The two maths skills books(Kelly amp Woood and Tear) have been written to accompany themathematics that arise in A-Level equivalent Physics The fo-cus here is on the use of maths to solve Physics problemsmore than is on maths for the sake of maths These may beuseful to students who struggle with the application of mathe-matics to physics
42 Mathematics
421 Course Text Foundation Mathematics
Foundation Mathematics is an online only text that is accessi-ble via WileyPlus We will be using WileyPlus as a means ofsetting assignments and homeworks based on material fromthe Course Text Please be aware that a Browser pluging (Wol-framrsquos CDF player) may be necessary to access some contentfrom the bookmdashthese are illustrative applets only and will notimpact upon assessment This is the book you will be givenupon arrival
Full reference Colin Steele et al (2015) Foundation Math-ematics 1st ed New Jersey John Wiley amp Sons ISBN9781118500507
13
4 TEXT BOOKS
422 Additional Texts
bull David Snell et al (2003) Foundations of Advanced Math-ematics 2nd ed London Hodder Education ISBN9780340869260
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2004) Core 1 and 2for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548960
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2005) Core 3 and 4for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548977
Snell et al is an introductory textbook that covers maths ma-terial that spans intermediate-Tier GCSE Maths up to and in-cluding some material from AS-Level Mathematics This wasthe book we recommended for students who have done littleor no A-Level Mathematics before they arrived The Quadlingand Neill textbooks accompany the OCRrsquos A-Level Mathemat-ics We will be covering comparable material in our Mathe-matics Modules Students who take the advanced MAC mathsmodules will be supplied with these books if necessary
43 Study Skills
We will integrate general study skills into our Physics teachinghighlighting where certain skills are important and showcasinghow you can learn more To support this we have chosen agood all round study guide (listed below) as the Course TextThis will be given to you when you arrive at UCLan
Nevertheless there are other books available (including anextensive range from Palgrave) These may be of interest tostudents who know that they have faced study problems in thepast or who are new to studying in a more academic and lessvocational manner
431 Course Text Study Skills For ScienceEngineering amp Technology Students
Itrsquos blurb describes it as an ldquoaccessible student-friendly hand-book that covers all of the essential study skills that will ensureyou get the most out of your Science Engineering or Technol-ogy courserdquo A good all round book that covers academic andpersonal skills We will be using sections from this book as thebasis for some of your skills sessions This is the book you willbe given upon arrival
Full reference Pat Maier Anna Barney and Geraldine Price(2009) Study Skills for Science Engineering and TechnologyStudents Harlow Pearson ISBN 9780273720737
432 Additional Texts
bull Stella Cottrell (2013) The Study Skills Handbook 4th edBasingstroke Palgrave MacMillan ISBN 978113728925
bull David Sands (2004) Studying Physics BasingstrokePalgrave MacMillan ISBN 9781403903280
Stellar Cottrell has established herself as one of the leadingauthors in the field of Study Skills and The Study Skills Hand-book is her flagship volume It contains a lot of practical guidesand information about how to successfully manage your stud-ies Studying Physics describes itself as ldquoa unique guide tothe essential skills in physics you need to acquire by the timeyou graduaterdquo Although this book comes under the PalgraveStudy Skills banner it is really more of an academic text thanmany other Study Skills books It focuses more towards beinga reference text than a self-help one
14
Chapter 5
Frequently Asked Questions
51 Study Time
How much work should I do Courses at UCLan are de-signed with the expectation that students can achieve a suc-cessful result by studying for 10 hours for each credit they needto achieve This includes attendance at UCLan and time spentin private study
Your modules are all worth 20 credits so you should ex-pect to do a minimum of 200 study hours for each of themThat 200-hours contains 3 hours per week of class contacttime (approximately 70 hours) The remaining will be under-taken by you as self-study support work in readiness for theclasses and assessment time The module descriptors (avail-able on eLearn) include an indicative breakdown of how thestudy time may be divided between various activities suchas reviewing lectures trying practice questions and attempt-ing assessments
Do not underestimate the amount of work you need to do toachieve your potential As a rough guide there are about 31weeks in the teaching year (24 in-class weeks 2-3 revisionsweeks amp 4 exam weeks) Six modules at 200 hours per mod-ule equals 1200 hours Spread out over those 31 weeks thisequates to about 39 hours a week ie the same hours as afull time job
Why am I having to work harder do less work than myfriends You may find yourselves having to work harder andput in more hours than some of your friends This is perfectlynatural and is a by-product of your individual experiences
Students who have done either maths or physics A-Levelmdashyou will have sat one or both of these before So even if youdid not get a high grade or only did one of the two you willstill have seen some of this material before That means youmay find yourself having to do less work and put in fewer hoursthan some of your friends Do not become smug There arestill plenty of ways to fail and over-confidence will be the routeto many of them
For a former PhysicsMaths A-Level student the route tosuccess is to use this year productively and to repair problemsthat occurred during your A-Levels Maintain your studies Ifyou slack-off your skills will become unpracticed and you willbe knocked sideways once we get to the really difficult materialin Semester Two
Everybody elsemdashthe disadvantage that you face is that youwill not have seen as much of the material as the former A-Level students Nevertheless some of our best students wereBTEC students who committed themselves from the outsetand ended-up with higher grades than most A-Level students
Ultimately you are trying to learn in one year what it takesmost students two-years to learn The only way for you to suc-ceed is to embrace that challenge
52 Results and Progression
Do I get a separate certificate or qualification for complet-ing the Foundation Year No the Foundation Year is onlythe first year of a longer degree The qualification is that finaldegree certificate
Does the Foundation Year count towards my degreeaward No your average mark for the Foundation Year willonly determine whether you progress to Year One
Will I get a transcript of my results A Transcript lists themodules undertaken credit value and grades achieved duringeach academic session of study The overall result obtainedwill also be indicated You will receive a transcript upon thesuccessful completion of your programme of study
That means you will not automatically receive a paper tran-script at the end of the Foundation Year as your course (thefull degree) has not yet finished Your official module resultsthose accepted by the Assessment Boards will be availableon myUCLan
Please see the Certificates and Awards webpage formore information You may wish to contact Awardcere-moniesuclanacuk if you have a particular need for a papertranscript
I think Irsquom going to fail what should I do We cannot es-cape the unfortunate fact that not every student on this yearwill progress onto Year One of their chosen degree There areacademic standards for progression (the move from one yearof study to the next) that you must meet Failure to meet thosegrades may result in you having to change to a different courseor potentially leave University after only one year
15
5 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Doing well in these skills is merely a measurement of a sin-gle aptitude It is never a measurement of a personrsquos worth ortheir potential in a different field it may just be that your ap-titudes lie elsewhere Struggling against something that youmay not be suited to can in some circumstances lead to anxi-ety and depression
Please do not be frightened in confronting this before theend of the course Your academic adviser can offer guidancethe student support service has a confidential Counseling Ser-vice for anybody feeling overwhelmed and UCLanrsquos careersservices can all help you evaluate the larger picture
16
Chapter 6
Student Finance
In this chapter we look at how your fees will be used and pro-vide guidelines for typical living costs for students in Preston
61 Tuition Fees
Your tuition fees include
bull Scheduled course tuition academic technical and ad-ministrative support use of course equipment and facil-ities
bull Course related induction activities
bull Placement year academic support (where the course in-cludes a placement year)
bull Course assessment and awards
bull Access to the universityrsquos library and online resourcesincluding on-campus wifi networked and remote accessto the universityrsquos virtual learning environment
bull Use of the universityrsquos estate and resources for scheduledactivities and learning support
bull Dissertation project andor thesis printing and bindingwhere the submission of printed and bound documentsis a requirement for assessment of the module
bull Use of the universityrsquos technical equipment and materialsidentified by the course teaching team as essential for thecompletion of the course
bull The extra items listed against your course in Table 61below
62 Living costs
Living costs are not included in your tuition fees You will needto budget for these separately Table 62 includes an indicationof some typical living costs but everyone is different and youare strongly advised to plan your own budget
You may also need to budget for ldquoone offrdquo or irregular costsTable 63 contains a representative list
63 Additional Costs
There are some costs that may be incurred by some but not allstudents and are not included within the Tuition Fees Theseare listed in Table 64
64 Student Finance
If you are dealing with agencies like Student Finance pleaseremember to tell them the full duration of your course TheFoundation Year adds an additional year to the BScBEng de-grees and MPhysMEng degrees making them 4-years and 5-years long respectively
UCLanrsquos Student Finance Support Team are available to ad-vise you on any problems and can provide short term emer-gency loans in some cases
17
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 61 Table of items included in Student Fees
Course Additional items included in the tuition fees for yourcourse
Foundation Year for Courses covered by this Hand-book
Compulsory text books (see Chapter 4)
BSc (Hons) Robotics EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering
IET Membership
BSc (Hons) Physics years 1 2 and 3 Frontier Education events
BSc (Hons) Motorsports Engineering years 1 2 and 3 Imech E Student RegistrationFormula Student
MPhys (Hons) AstrophysicsBEng (Hons) Computer Aided EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic EngineeringBSc (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringBSc (Hons) Motorsports EngineeringBSc (Hons) PhysicsBSc (Hons) Robotics Engineering
Compulsory text books in year one
18
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
2 COURSE STRUCTURE AND OVERVIEW
Table 24 Available modules on the PhysicsEngineering Foundation Year Column 1 lists the module code column 2 lists themodule title The last column lists whether the module is taught in a single semester or in both semesters (Year Long)
Module Code Module Title Delivery
APC801 Introduction to University Physics Year Long
APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields Year Long
APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics Year Long
APC804 Mathematical Methods Semester One
APC805 Further Mathematical Methods Semester Two
APC806 Graphs and Vectors Year Long
to be able to enter the BScBEng programmes Therefore sim-ply passing all modules at 40 will not adequately prepare youfor student in the first year of the degree programme
281 Progression Criteria
In order to ensure a student can cope with the academic con-tent in Year 1 it has been determined that the following pro-gression criteria will apply
Automatic Admission
Physics Year One 120 credits and an average percentagemark (APM) of at least 60 across all modules allowsthe option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of thePhysicsAstrophysics degree programmes
Engineering Year One 120 credits and an average percent-age mark (APM) of at least 50 across all modules al-lows option of automatic admission to Year 1 of any of theEngineering degree programmes
Discretionary Admission
The Course Assessment Boards will consider students for ad-mission with 120 credits and with an APM that is up to 10points below the APM for their respective course (ie 50for Physics 40 for Engineering) Students may be asked toundertake reassessment designed to raise their APM to a levelrequested by the Course Board
Alternative Admission
Students who achieve 120 credits and an APM of at least 40and who are not admitted to a PhysicsEngineering degreemay be offered admission to another degree programme atthe University of Central Lancashire
29 Further Information
291 UCLan Official Web-pages
The following are a few of the public facing UCLan webpagesthat might be useful to you
bull Welcome to UCLan (httpwwwuclanacukstudentsstudynewphp) This is the Welcome pageon uclanacuk that all new students are directed tobefore they arrive This will include check-lists of thingsto do before and during your Welcome here
bull Guide to Student Regulations (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsliferules_regsphp) This page in-cludes the Regulations for the Conduct of Students
bull Academic Regulations (httpwwwuclanacukaqasuacademic_regulationsphp) This page in-cludes the most up to date copies of both the UCLanAcademic Regulations which state how courses andmodules are regulated and the Assessment Handbookwhich details the principles under which assessment isconducted
bull Student Support (httpswwwuclanacukstudents) The central hub for Student Supportwebpages at UCLan Including advise on student lifehealth amp well-being finances study issues and muchmore
bull Academic Calendar (httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyacademic_calendarphp) This pagecontains the most up to date version of the UCLanAcademic Calendar
Most student information including the teaching material oneLearn Blackboard and the sources above can be accessedfrom the Student Portal (httpsportaluclanacuk) us-ing your UCLan e-mail user-name and password Additionallystudents can review their enrolment personal details and aca-demic record via the myUCLan online service
292 Independent Sources
bull UCLan SU (httpwwwuclansucouk) The websiteof UCLanrsquos Student Union The Union is able to offer trulyindependent advice to you as it is controlled by the Stu-dent Body not by the University itself
bull Pluto (httppluto-onlinecom) Pluto is the Inde-pendent UCLan Student Newspaper It contains newsstories about Student Life both here and around the coun-try
8
Chapter 3
Before You Arrive
In this chapter we look at the things you bring to Universityndash ideally things you should know and things you should haveprocured You may have received a leaflet and letter aboutmathematics preparation after you accepted the offer to studyon this Course The revision section below replicates the rec-ommendations and resources from that leaflet After that welook at the basic stationary that you will need for your Courseand describe the type of calculator you should have
31 Revision
311 Necessary Skills
Mathematics is a key skill that you will have to develop duringyour time on the Course and it is vitally important that you areup to speed with the full range of GCSE (including Intermedi-ate and Higher tier) Mathematics before you start
Skills and topics that you should ideally be comfortable withinclude
Basic numeracy Including the use of directed (negative)numbers fractions (adding multiplying etc) surds in-dices order of operations highest common factors per-centages significant figures ratios etc
Algebra You should be able to manipulate basic algebraicequations including factorizing of simple quadratics mak-ing a quantity the subject of a formula repeating normalnumerical actions (multiplication factions indices factor-izing) with algebra
Trigonometry The area and angles of a triangle applicationof sine cosine and tangent simple vectors and vectoraddition
Graphs Plotting an xy graph how the equation y = mx +c relates to a straight line how algebraic equations(quadratics etc) can be plotted on such a graph
We will be testing these in the diagnostic test during WelcomeWeek and will offer some remedial help at the start of termHowever your entry into University will be a lot more fun andless stressful if you have got this sorted before you turn up
312 Revision Resources
There are two main resources that we recommend for appli-cants who are having to bring their mathematical skills up tothe level described above The first is a textbook that ac-companies a standalone qualification called the ldquoFoundationsof Mathematicsrdquo and the second is a free website called theldquoKhan Academyrdquo
Foundations of Advanced Mathematics 2nd Edition
This book is the best possible benchmark for the mathematicselement at the start of this course If you revise and practiceeverything contained in this book you will be well equipped totackle the material at the start of the Foundation Year It willget harder but this will give you an excellent head start
This book accompanies a standalone qualification that is de-signed to take a student from intermediate tier GCSE to thestart of AS Level maths While we do not recommend youtake the actual qualification the revision and teaching materi-als available for it are recommended You may also find thesematerials useful if you are studying mathematics for a currentnon-A Level qualification
Full Reference David Snell et al (2003) Foundations ofAdvanced Mathematics 2nd ed London Hodder EducationISBN 9780340869260
Khan Academy
wwwkhanacademyorgThis website is a good online study resource It was put to-
gether by Salman Khan a former hedge fund analyst who re-alized that there was no good free resource for people wantingto learn mathematics The Academy works on a challenge-and-response principle As you attempt problems it noticeswhere you are succeeding and failing and shows you morechallenging material or additional tutorials as necessary
You can spend as little or as much time on there as youwish mdash either to brush up a skill or as the main focus of yourrevision You may even find its format addictive For thosewanting to use the Academy as their main revision route wewould suggest that you take either of the following subjects
The World of Math This gives a broad overview of mathe-matics and includes elementary material where neces-sary wwwkhanacademyorgmath
9
3 BEFORE YOU ARRIVE
Algebra Basics This is a set of materials specifically put to-gether in preparation for US university entrance examswwwkhanacademyorgmathalgebra-basics
313 Additional Resources
There are several additional resources that may be useful toyou Some are free some are not
Bridging GCSE and A-Level Maths by Mark RowlandPublished by Collins ISBN 978-0-00-741023-1 Thisbook covers what you should know from GCSE andindicates where that will lead to at A Level It is about 160pages long with 80 pages of examples and referencesfollowed by 80 pages of problems This may not be souseful if you are too rusty on the GCSE parts
GCSE to A level Jump wwwm4thscomindexphpp=1_12 This website discusses the transition to A-Leveland includes links to several useful resources Werecommend you have a look at the self-audit sheets asthese give good examples of what yoursquoll be facing onyour course
Step UP To A-Level Maths wwwcimtplymouthacukprojectsmepresstep-updefaulthtm This websitelists the skills yoursquoll need to study maths at A-Level andalso includes chapters from a GCSE textbook
Maths Centre wwwmathcentreacuk This site deliverssupport materials (videos and PDF worksheets) free ofcharge to students lecturers and everyone looking forpost-16 maths help
The Jump wwwm4thscomgcse-to-a-level-bridgehtml This is a series of videos that were prepared byM4ths founder Steve Blades There are 30 videos intotal and the first 20 are on YouTube and are linked tofrom Steversquos website
YouTube You will find that there are a lot of helpful videos onYouTube If you get stuck on a topic try a YouTube searchand yoursquoll usually find videos from high school teachersand sometimes university lecturers who have put theirlessons online
32 Stationary
Supplying basic day-to-day style equipment such as pens pa-per and calculators is a studentrsquos responsibility How studentsorganize their work can be highly individualistic Neverthelessit is recommended that all students invest in some basic sta-tionary and something that will allow them to organize the sur-prisingly large amount of paper that will be generated duringtheir studies
The following should be considered as the minimum recom-mended set of equipment
Pens Always make sure that you have got at least one sparepen with youmdashespecially in exams Just as in school weask that students use either blue or black ink during as-sessment Red ink is usually reserved for marking greenink for moderation
Pencil eraser pencil sharpener The received wisdom isthat students use pen for writing and pencil for everythingelse (sketching graphs drawing diagrams etc)
Paper Students have to supply their own paper However theUniversity will provide paper in exams Do not be afraidof using a lot of paper and do not cram too much writingonto a single sheet It is often useful to be able to addnotes or annotations around whatever you have written
Filing You generally have two options here You can eitheruse bound notebooksmdashone per subjectmdashor you can fileloose paper in a binder Both techniques allows you toseparate your notes into different topicslectures
Ruler You will have to draw graphs and diagrams It is veryprobable that you are not Leonard Da Vinci and thus can-not draw an immaculate line free hand Thus a ruler willbe essential
Stapler (and staples)paper clips Something to keep yourlose papers together when they are not in your filing sys-tem Pages of an assignment should always be attachedtogethermdashit is your responsibility to make sure that sub-mitted assignments are in a condition where pages can-not become separated (quite easy when everybodyrsquoswork is piled together)
33 Calculators
In time you will learn to estimate the answers to most calcu-lations on the ldquoback of an enveloperdquo However until then youwill need to use a calculator or app It should be able to handlebasic trigonometry functions (sin cos tan) and their inversespowers (x2
radicx xy) logarithms (base 10 and natural) sci-
entific notation and the ability to work in radians as well asdegrees
If you studied A-Level Maths the calculator you had for thatwill be adequate Good calculator apps are also available onmost computer and mobile phone platforms (eg RealCalc onAndroid Applersquos Calculator for OS X and iOS Windows Cal-culator etc) However phone apps cannot be used in examsand some lecturers may object to you having your phone outin tutorials
We do not prescribe which type of calculator you should useoutside of exam times However you should avoid models thatare too advanced as you will not be able to take them intoexams (see below) A calculator is merely a tool that speedsup a process it will avail you little if you do not first understandthat process It is your responsibility to know how to use yourown calculator
Calculators will be allowed in some exams and youshould bring one to those exams Mobile phones and theirapps are not allowed in exam halls Calculators may not beallowed in some exams particularly those focusing on puremathematics You should check with the Module Leader asto whether a calculator is allowed in the examination for theirModule
Misuse of a calculator is counted as cheating (Unfair Means)under the Exam Regulations A Foundation Year is taught atLevel 3 the same as A-Level we therefore adopt the guideline
10
34 Misc
similar to of the Joint Council for Qualifications1 (the industrybody that represents the A-Level exam boards)
Specifically that in examinations calculators
bull Must not include these functions
ndash Language translators
ndash Symbolic algebra manipulation
ndash Symbolic differentiation or integration
ndash Graphical plotting
ndash Connect to the internet or other machines
bull Must not include retrievable information (eg mathemati-cal formulae text etc)
bull Any programmable memory must be erasable and shouldbe erased prior to the start of any exam
Notes
bull Standard calculator memory is allowed (the standard MMR M+ functions but this must be empty before anyexam begins)
bull Physical constants and unit conversion are allowed solong as those constants and conversions are not user pro-grammable
bull For reference the CASIO FX-85GT Plus is the defaultcalculator that students on our maths degree have in thepast been issued with
34 Misc
bull Carrying stuff around in your bag or rucksack will result init getting batteredmdashbinders become worn holes in paperbecome pulled rulers become chipped Think about thisin advance Possibly leave the full binder in your accom-modation and use card folders to protect notes in transitbefore you file them in the evening Keep your ruler in thesheath that it came in Use a pencil case to keep loosepens pencils etc together
bull There are several stationary shops in town including WHSmiths Staples and Rymans However shop aroundmdashsome shops are decidedly cheaper than others We arescientists and engineers itrsquos functionality that mattersnot style
1As specified in Section 3 of the 2014-15 rsquoICErsquo (Instructions for conductingexaminations)
11
Chapter 4
Text Books
In this Chapter we run down the Course Texts for this Courseand look at other books that might be of relevance Please donot buy the Course Texts yourself These will be distributed toyou upon arrival (the cost is included in your fees)
Any A-Level Physics andor A-Level Maths text book will beuseful to you so bring any existing MathsPhysics books withyou The following Sections also include details of a few othertext books that students might find useful
41 Physics
411 Course Text Introduction to Physics
Introduction to Physics is a full-colour textbook that is linked toa website system called WileyPlus through which you can ac-cess additional resources and a full electronic text of the bookWe will be using WileyPlus as a means of setting assignmentsand homeworks based on material from the Course Text Thisis the book you will be given upon arrival
Full reference John D Cutnell et al (2015) Introduction toPhysics International Student Version 10th ed New JerseyJohn Wiley amp Sons ISBN 9781118651520
412 Additional Texts
bull Jim Breithaupt (2015) Physics 4th ed Basingstoke Pal-grave MacMillan ISBN 9781137443236
bull Gareth Kelly and Nigel Wood (2013) Mathematics for ALevel Physics A Course Companion Cheltenham Illu-minate Publishing
bull Roger Muncaster (1993) A-Level Physics 4th ed Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9780748715848
bull Carol Tear (2013) Maths Skills for A Level Physics Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9781408521205
Breithhauptrsquos Physics is a comparable physics text to Cutnellamp Johnson albeit more compact Muncasterrsquos A-Level Physicsremains a favourite among many A-Level Physics teachersand FE lecturers It can appear rather old school but it is clearprecise and waffle free Muncaster is a text that rewards stu-dents who are willing to study hard The two maths skills books(Kelly amp Woood and Tear) have been written to accompany themathematics that arise in A-Level equivalent Physics The fo-cus here is on the use of maths to solve Physics problemsmore than is on maths for the sake of maths These may beuseful to students who struggle with the application of mathe-matics to physics
42 Mathematics
421 Course Text Foundation Mathematics
Foundation Mathematics is an online only text that is accessi-ble via WileyPlus We will be using WileyPlus as a means ofsetting assignments and homeworks based on material fromthe Course Text Please be aware that a Browser pluging (Wol-framrsquos CDF player) may be necessary to access some contentfrom the bookmdashthese are illustrative applets only and will notimpact upon assessment This is the book you will be givenupon arrival
Full reference Colin Steele et al (2015) Foundation Math-ematics 1st ed New Jersey John Wiley amp Sons ISBN9781118500507
13
4 TEXT BOOKS
422 Additional Texts
bull David Snell et al (2003) Foundations of Advanced Math-ematics 2nd ed London Hodder Education ISBN9780340869260
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2004) Core 1 and 2for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548960
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2005) Core 3 and 4for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548977
Snell et al is an introductory textbook that covers maths ma-terial that spans intermediate-Tier GCSE Maths up to and in-cluding some material from AS-Level Mathematics This wasthe book we recommended for students who have done littleor no A-Level Mathematics before they arrived The Quadlingand Neill textbooks accompany the OCRrsquos A-Level Mathemat-ics We will be covering comparable material in our Mathe-matics Modules Students who take the advanced MAC mathsmodules will be supplied with these books if necessary
43 Study Skills
We will integrate general study skills into our Physics teachinghighlighting where certain skills are important and showcasinghow you can learn more To support this we have chosen agood all round study guide (listed below) as the Course TextThis will be given to you when you arrive at UCLan
Nevertheless there are other books available (including anextensive range from Palgrave) These may be of interest tostudents who know that they have faced study problems in thepast or who are new to studying in a more academic and lessvocational manner
431 Course Text Study Skills For ScienceEngineering amp Technology Students
Itrsquos blurb describes it as an ldquoaccessible student-friendly hand-book that covers all of the essential study skills that will ensureyou get the most out of your Science Engineering or Technol-ogy courserdquo A good all round book that covers academic andpersonal skills We will be using sections from this book as thebasis for some of your skills sessions This is the book you willbe given upon arrival
Full reference Pat Maier Anna Barney and Geraldine Price(2009) Study Skills for Science Engineering and TechnologyStudents Harlow Pearson ISBN 9780273720737
432 Additional Texts
bull Stella Cottrell (2013) The Study Skills Handbook 4th edBasingstroke Palgrave MacMillan ISBN 978113728925
bull David Sands (2004) Studying Physics BasingstrokePalgrave MacMillan ISBN 9781403903280
Stellar Cottrell has established herself as one of the leadingauthors in the field of Study Skills and The Study Skills Hand-book is her flagship volume It contains a lot of practical guidesand information about how to successfully manage your stud-ies Studying Physics describes itself as ldquoa unique guide tothe essential skills in physics you need to acquire by the timeyou graduaterdquo Although this book comes under the PalgraveStudy Skills banner it is really more of an academic text thanmany other Study Skills books It focuses more towards beinga reference text than a self-help one
14
Chapter 5
Frequently Asked Questions
51 Study Time
How much work should I do Courses at UCLan are de-signed with the expectation that students can achieve a suc-cessful result by studying for 10 hours for each credit they needto achieve This includes attendance at UCLan and time spentin private study
Your modules are all worth 20 credits so you should ex-pect to do a minimum of 200 study hours for each of themThat 200-hours contains 3 hours per week of class contacttime (approximately 70 hours) The remaining will be under-taken by you as self-study support work in readiness for theclasses and assessment time The module descriptors (avail-able on eLearn) include an indicative breakdown of how thestudy time may be divided between various activities suchas reviewing lectures trying practice questions and attempt-ing assessments
Do not underestimate the amount of work you need to do toachieve your potential As a rough guide there are about 31weeks in the teaching year (24 in-class weeks 2-3 revisionsweeks amp 4 exam weeks) Six modules at 200 hours per mod-ule equals 1200 hours Spread out over those 31 weeks thisequates to about 39 hours a week ie the same hours as afull time job
Why am I having to work harder do less work than myfriends You may find yourselves having to work harder andput in more hours than some of your friends This is perfectlynatural and is a by-product of your individual experiences
Students who have done either maths or physics A-Levelmdashyou will have sat one or both of these before So even if youdid not get a high grade or only did one of the two you willstill have seen some of this material before That means youmay find yourself having to do less work and put in fewer hoursthan some of your friends Do not become smug There arestill plenty of ways to fail and over-confidence will be the routeto many of them
For a former PhysicsMaths A-Level student the route tosuccess is to use this year productively and to repair problemsthat occurred during your A-Levels Maintain your studies Ifyou slack-off your skills will become unpracticed and you willbe knocked sideways once we get to the really difficult materialin Semester Two
Everybody elsemdashthe disadvantage that you face is that youwill not have seen as much of the material as the former A-Level students Nevertheless some of our best students wereBTEC students who committed themselves from the outsetand ended-up with higher grades than most A-Level students
Ultimately you are trying to learn in one year what it takesmost students two-years to learn The only way for you to suc-ceed is to embrace that challenge
52 Results and Progression
Do I get a separate certificate or qualification for complet-ing the Foundation Year No the Foundation Year is onlythe first year of a longer degree The qualification is that finaldegree certificate
Does the Foundation Year count towards my degreeaward No your average mark for the Foundation Year willonly determine whether you progress to Year One
Will I get a transcript of my results A Transcript lists themodules undertaken credit value and grades achieved duringeach academic session of study The overall result obtainedwill also be indicated You will receive a transcript upon thesuccessful completion of your programme of study
That means you will not automatically receive a paper tran-script at the end of the Foundation Year as your course (thefull degree) has not yet finished Your official module resultsthose accepted by the Assessment Boards will be availableon myUCLan
Please see the Certificates and Awards webpage formore information You may wish to contact Awardcere-moniesuclanacuk if you have a particular need for a papertranscript
I think Irsquom going to fail what should I do We cannot es-cape the unfortunate fact that not every student on this yearwill progress onto Year One of their chosen degree There areacademic standards for progression (the move from one yearof study to the next) that you must meet Failure to meet thosegrades may result in you having to change to a different courseor potentially leave University after only one year
15
5 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Doing well in these skills is merely a measurement of a sin-gle aptitude It is never a measurement of a personrsquos worth ortheir potential in a different field it may just be that your ap-titudes lie elsewhere Struggling against something that youmay not be suited to can in some circumstances lead to anxi-ety and depression
Please do not be frightened in confronting this before theend of the course Your academic adviser can offer guidancethe student support service has a confidential Counseling Ser-vice for anybody feeling overwhelmed and UCLanrsquos careersservices can all help you evaluate the larger picture
16
Chapter 6
Student Finance
In this chapter we look at how your fees will be used and pro-vide guidelines for typical living costs for students in Preston
61 Tuition Fees
Your tuition fees include
bull Scheduled course tuition academic technical and ad-ministrative support use of course equipment and facil-ities
bull Course related induction activities
bull Placement year academic support (where the course in-cludes a placement year)
bull Course assessment and awards
bull Access to the universityrsquos library and online resourcesincluding on-campus wifi networked and remote accessto the universityrsquos virtual learning environment
bull Use of the universityrsquos estate and resources for scheduledactivities and learning support
bull Dissertation project andor thesis printing and bindingwhere the submission of printed and bound documentsis a requirement for assessment of the module
bull Use of the universityrsquos technical equipment and materialsidentified by the course teaching team as essential for thecompletion of the course
bull The extra items listed against your course in Table 61below
62 Living costs
Living costs are not included in your tuition fees You will needto budget for these separately Table 62 includes an indicationof some typical living costs but everyone is different and youare strongly advised to plan your own budget
You may also need to budget for ldquoone offrdquo or irregular costsTable 63 contains a representative list
63 Additional Costs
There are some costs that may be incurred by some but not allstudents and are not included within the Tuition Fees Theseare listed in Table 64
64 Student Finance
If you are dealing with agencies like Student Finance pleaseremember to tell them the full duration of your course TheFoundation Year adds an additional year to the BScBEng de-grees and MPhysMEng degrees making them 4-years and 5-years long respectively
UCLanrsquos Student Finance Support Team are available to ad-vise you on any problems and can provide short term emer-gency loans in some cases
17
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 61 Table of items included in Student Fees
Course Additional items included in the tuition fees for yourcourse
Foundation Year for Courses covered by this Hand-book
Compulsory text books (see Chapter 4)
BSc (Hons) Robotics EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering
IET Membership
BSc (Hons) Physics years 1 2 and 3 Frontier Education events
BSc (Hons) Motorsports Engineering years 1 2 and 3 Imech E Student RegistrationFormula Student
MPhys (Hons) AstrophysicsBEng (Hons) Computer Aided EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic EngineeringBSc (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringBSc (Hons) Motorsports EngineeringBSc (Hons) PhysicsBSc (Hons) Robotics Engineering
Compulsory text books in year one
18
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Chapter 3
Before You Arrive
In this chapter we look at the things you bring to Universityndash ideally things you should know and things you should haveprocured You may have received a leaflet and letter aboutmathematics preparation after you accepted the offer to studyon this Course The revision section below replicates the rec-ommendations and resources from that leaflet After that welook at the basic stationary that you will need for your Courseand describe the type of calculator you should have
31 Revision
311 Necessary Skills
Mathematics is a key skill that you will have to develop duringyour time on the Course and it is vitally important that you areup to speed with the full range of GCSE (including Intermedi-ate and Higher tier) Mathematics before you start
Skills and topics that you should ideally be comfortable withinclude
Basic numeracy Including the use of directed (negative)numbers fractions (adding multiplying etc) surds in-dices order of operations highest common factors per-centages significant figures ratios etc
Algebra You should be able to manipulate basic algebraicequations including factorizing of simple quadratics mak-ing a quantity the subject of a formula repeating normalnumerical actions (multiplication factions indices factor-izing) with algebra
Trigonometry The area and angles of a triangle applicationof sine cosine and tangent simple vectors and vectoraddition
Graphs Plotting an xy graph how the equation y = mx +c relates to a straight line how algebraic equations(quadratics etc) can be plotted on such a graph
We will be testing these in the diagnostic test during WelcomeWeek and will offer some remedial help at the start of termHowever your entry into University will be a lot more fun andless stressful if you have got this sorted before you turn up
312 Revision Resources
There are two main resources that we recommend for appli-cants who are having to bring their mathematical skills up tothe level described above The first is a textbook that ac-companies a standalone qualification called the ldquoFoundationsof Mathematicsrdquo and the second is a free website called theldquoKhan Academyrdquo
Foundations of Advanced Mathematics 2nd Edition
This book is the best possible benchmark for the mathematicselement at the start of this course If you revise and practiceeverything contained in this book you will be well equipped totackle the material at the start of the Foundation Year It willget harder but this will give you an excellent head start
This book accompanies a standalone qualification that is de-signed to take a student from intermediate tier GCSE to thestart of AS Level maths While we do not recommend youtake the actual qualification the revision and teaching materi-als available for it are recommended You may also find thesematerials useful if you are studying mathematics for a currentnon-A Level qualification
Full Reference David Snell et al (2003) Foundations ofAdvanced Mathematics 2nd ed London Hodder EducationISBN 9780340869260
Khan Academy
wwwkhanacademyorgThis website is a good online study resource It was put to-
gether by Salman Khan a former hedge fund analyst who re-alized that there was no good free resource for people wantingto learn mathematics The Academy works on a challenge-and-response principle As you attempt problems it noticeswhere you are succeeding and failing and shows you morechallenging material or additional tutorials as necessary
You can spend as little or as much time on there as youwish mdash either to brush up a skill or as the main focus of yourrevision You may even find its format addictive For thosewanting to use the Academy as their main revision route wewould suggest that you take either of the following subjects
The World of Math This gives a broad overview of mathe-matics and includes elementary material where neces-sary wwwkhanacademyorgmath
9
3 BEFORE YOU ARRIVE
Algebra Basics This is a set of materials specifically put to-gether in preparation for US university entrance examswwwkhanacademyorgmathalgebra-basics
313 Additional Resources
There are several additional resources that may be useful toyou Some are free some are not
Bridging GCSE and A-Level Maths by Mark RowlandPublished by Collins ISBN 978-0-00-741023-1 Thisbook covers what you should know from GCSE andindicates where that will lead to at A Level It is about 160pages long with 80 pages of examples and referencesfollowed by 80 pages of problems This may not be souseful if you are too rusty on the GCSE parts
GCSE to A level Jump wwwm4thscomindexphpp=1_12 This website discusses the transition to A-Leveland includes links to several useful resources Werecommend you have a look at the self-audit sheets asthese give good examples of what yoursquoll be facing onyour course
Step UP To A-Level Maths wwwcimtplymouthacukprojectsmepresstep-updefaulthtm This websitelists the skills yoursquoll need to study maths at A-Level andalso includes chapters from a GCSE textbook
Maths Centre wwwmathcentreacuk This site deliverssupport materials (videos and PDF worksheets) free ofcharge to students lecturers and everyone looking forpost-16 maths help
The Jump wwwm4thscomgcse-to-a-level-bridgehtml This is a series of videos that were prepared byM4ths founder Steve Blades There are 30 videos intotal and the first 20 are on YouTube and are linked tofrom Steversquos website
YouTube You will find that there are a lot of helpful videos onYouTube If you get stuck on a topic try a YouTube searchand yoursquoll usually find videos from high school teachersand sometimes university lecturers who have put theirlessons online
32 Stationary
Supplying basic day-to-day style equipment such as pens pa-per and calculators is a studentrsquos responsibility How studentsorganize their work can be highly individualistic Neverthelessit is recommended that all students invest in some basic sta-tionary and something that will allow them to organize the sur-prisingly large amount of paper that will be generated duringtheir studies
The following should be considered as the minimum recom-mended set of equipment
Pens Always make sure that you have got at least one sparepen with youmdashespecially in exams Just as in school weask that students use either blue or black ink during as-sessment Red ink is usually reserved for marking greenink for moderation
Pencil eraser pencil sharpener The received wisdom isthat students use pen for writing and pencil for everythingelse (sketching graphs drawing diagrams etc)
Paper Students have to supply their own paper However theUniversity will provide paper in exams Do not be afraidof using a lot of paper and do not cram too much writingonto a single sheet It is often useful to be able to addnotes or annotations around whatever you have written
Filing You generally have two options here You can eitheruse bound notebooksmdashone per subjectmdashor you can fileloose paper in a binder Both techniques allows you toseparate your notes into different topicslectures
Ruler You will have to draw graphs and diagrams It is veryprobable that you are not Leonard Da Vinci and thus can-not draw an immaculate line free hand Thus a ruler willbe essential
Stapler (and staples)paper clips Something to keep yourlose papers together when they are not in your filing sys-tem Pages of an assignment should always be attachedtogethermdashit is your responsibility to make sure that sub-mitted assignments are in a condition where pages can-not become separated (quite easy when everybodyrsquoswork is piled together)
33 Calculators
In time you will learn to estimate the answers to most calcu-lations on the ldquoback of an enveloperdquo However until then youwill need to use a calculator or app It should be able to handlebasic trigonometry functions (sin cos tan) and their inversespowers (x2
radicx xy) logarithms (base 10 and natural) sci-
entific notation and the ability to work in radians as well asdegrees
If you studied A-Level Maths the calculator you had for thatwill be adequate Good calculator apps are also available onmost computer and mobile phone platforms (eg RealCalc onAndroid Applersquos Calculator for OS X and iOS Windows Cal-culator etc) However phone apps cannot be used in examsand some lecturers may object to you having your phone outin tutorials
We do not prescribe which type of calculator you should useoutside of exam times However you should avoid models thatare too advanced as you will not be able to take them intoexams (see below) A calculator is merely a tool that speedsup a process it will avail you little if you do not first understandthat process It is your responsibility to know how to use yourown calculator
Calculators will be allowed in some exams and youshould bring one to those exams Mobile phones and theirapps are not allowed in exam halls Calculators may not beallowed in some exams particularly those focusing on puremathematics You should check with the Module Leader asto whether a calculator is allowed in the examination for theirModule
Misuse of a calculator is counted as cheating (Unfair Means)under the Exam Regulations A Foundation Year is taught atLevel 3 the same as A-Level we therefore adopt the guideline
10
34 Misc
similar to of the Joint Council for Qualifications1 (the industrybody that represents the A-Level exam boards)
Specifically that in examinations calculators
bull Must not include these functions
ndash Language translators
ndash Symbolic algebra manipulation
ndash Symbolic differentiation or integration
ndash Graphical plotting
ndash Connect to the internet or other machines
bull Must not include retrievable information (eg mathemati-cal formulae text etc)
bull Any programmable memory must be erasable and shouldbe erased prior to the start of any exam
Notes
bull Standard calculator memory is allowed (the standard MMR M+ functions but this must be empty before anyexam begins)
bull Physical constants and unit conversion are allowed solong as those constants and conversions are not user pro-grammable
bull For reference the CASIO FX-85GT Plus is the defaultcalculator that students on our maths degree have in thepast been issued with
34 Misc
bull Carrying stuff around in your bag or rucksack will result init getting batteredmdashbinders become worn holes in paperbecome pulled rulers become chipped Think about thisin advance Possibly leave the full binder in your accom-modation and use card folders to protect notes in transitbefore you file them in the evening Keep your ruler in thesheath that it came in Use a pencil case to keep loosepens pencils etc together
bull There are several stationary shops in town including WHSmiths Staples and Rymans However shop aroundmdashsome shops are decidedly cheaper than others We arescientists and engineers itrsquos functionality that mattersnot style
1As specified in Section 3 of the 2014-15 rsquoICErsquo (Instructions for conductingexaminations)
11
Chapter 4
Text Books
In this Chapter we run down the Course Texts for this Courseand look at other books that might be of relevance Please donot buy the Course Texts yourself These will be distributed toyou upon arrival (the cost is included in your fees)
Any A-Level Physics andor A-Level Maths text book will beuseful to you so bring any existing MathsPhysics books withyou The following Sections also include details of a few othertext books that students might find useful
41 Physics
411 Course Text Introduction to Physics
Introduction to Physics is a full-colour textbook that is linked toa website system called WileyPlus through which you can ac-cess additional resources and a full electronic text of the bookWe will be using WileyPlus as a means of setting assignmentsand homeworks based on material from the Course Text Thisis the book you will be given upon arrival
Full reference John D Cutnell et al (2015) Introduction toPhysics International Student Version 10th ed New JerseyJohn Wiley amp Sons ISBN 9781118651520
412 Additional Texts
bull Jim Breithaupt (2015) Physics 4th ed Basingstoke Pal-grave MacMillan ISBN 9781137443236
bull Gareth Kelly and Nigel Wood (2013) Mathematics for ALevel Physics A Course Companion Cheltenham Illu-minate Publishing
bull Roger Muncaster (1993) A-Level Physics 4th ed Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9780748715848
bull Carol Tear (2013) Maths Skills for A Level Physics Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9781408521205
Breithhauptrsquos Physics is a comparable physics text to Cutnellamp Johnson albeit more compact Muncasterrsquos A-Level Physicsremains a favourite among many A-Level Physics teachersand FE lecturers It can appear rather old school but it is clearprecise and waffle free Muncaster is a text that rewards stu-dents who are willing to study hard The two maths skills books(Kelly amp Woood and Tear) have been written to accompany themathematics that arise in A-Level equivalent Physics The fo-cus here is on the use of maths to solve Physics problemsmore than is on maths for the sake of maths These may beuseful to students who struggle with the application of mathe-matics to physics
42 Mathematics
421 Course Text Foundation Mathematics
Foundation Mathematics is an online only text that is accessi-ble via WileyPlus We will be using WileyPlus as a means ofsetting assignments and homeworks based on material fromthe Course Text Please be aware that a Browser pluging (Wol-framrsquos CDF player) may be necessary to access some contentfrom the bookmdashthese are illustrative applets only and will notimpact upon assessment This is the book you will be givenupon arrival
Full reference Colin Steele et al (2015) Foundation Math-ematics 1st ed New Jersey John Wiley amp Sons ISBN9781118500507
13
4 TEXT BOOKS
422 Additional Texts
bull David Snell et al (2003) Foundations of Advanced Math-ematics 2nd ed London Hodder Education ISBN9780340869260
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2004) Core 1 and 2for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548960
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2005) Core 3 and 4for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548977
Snell et al is an introductory textbook that covers maths ma-terial that spans intermediate-Tier GCSE Maths up to and in-cluding some material from AS-Level Mathematics This wasthe book we recommended for students who have done littleor no A-Level Mathematics before they arrived The Quadlingand Neill textbooks accompany the OCRrsquos A-Level Mathemat-ics We will be covering comparable material in our Mathe-matics Modules Students who take the advanced MAC mathsmodules will be supplied with these books if necessary
43 Study Skills
We will integrate general study skills into our Physics teachinghighlighting where certain skills are important and showcasinghow you can learn more To support this we have chosen agood all round study guide (listed below) as the Course TextThis will be given to you when you arrive at UCLan
Nevertheless there are other books available (including anextensive range from Palgrave) These may be of interest tostudents who know that they have faced study problems in thepast or who are new to studying in a more academic and lessvocational manner
431 Course Text Study Skills For ScienceEngineering amp Technology Students
Itrsquos blurb describes it as an ldquoaccessible student-friendly hand-book that covers all of the essential study skills that will ensureyou get the most out of your Science Engineering or Technol-ogy courserdquo A good all round book that covers academic andpersonal skills We will be using sections from this book as thebasis for some of your skills sessions This is the book you willbe given upon arrival
Full reference Pat Maier Anna Barney and Geraldine Price(2009) Study Skills for Science Engineering and TechnologyStudents Harlow Pearson ISBN 9780273720737
432 Additional Texts
bull Stella Cottrell (2013) The Study Skills Handbook 4th edBasingstroke Palgrave MacMillan ISBN 978113728925
bull David Sands (2004) Studying Physics BasingstrokePalgrave MacMillan ISBN 9781403903280
Stellar Cottrell has established herself as one of the leadingauthors in the field of Study Skills and The Study Skills Hand-book is her flagship volume It contains a lot of practical guidesand information about how to successfully manage your stud-ies Studying Physics describes itself as ldquoa unique guide tothe essential skills in physics you need to acquire by the timeyou graduaterdquo Although this book comes under the PalgraveStudy Skills banner it is really more of an academic text thanmany other Study Skills books It focuses more towards beinga reference text than a self-help one
14
Chapter 5
Frequently Asked Questions
51 Study Time
How much work should I do Courses at UCLan are de-signed with the expectation that students can achieve a suc-cessful result by studying for 10 hours for each credit they needto achieve This includes attendance at UCLan and time spentin private study
Your modules are all worth 20 credits so you should ex-pect to do a minimum of 200 study hours for each of themThat 200-hours contains 3 hours per week of class contacttime (approximately 70 hours) The remaining will be under-taken by you as self-study support work in readiness for theclasses and assessment time The module descriptors (avail-able on eLearn) include an indicative breakdown of how thestudy time may be divided between various activities suchas reviewing lectures trying practice questions and attempt-ing assessments
Do not underestimate the amount of work you need to do toachieve your potential As a rough guide there are about 31weeks in the teaching year (24 in-class weeks 2-3 revisionsweeks amp 4 exam weeks) Six modules at 200 hours per mod-ule equals 1200 hours Spread out over those 31 weeks thisequates to about 39 hours a week ie the same hours as afull time job
Why am I having to work harder do less work than myfriends You may find yourselves having to work harder andput in more hours than some of your friends This is perfectlynatural and is a by-product of your individual experiences
Students who have done either maths or physics A-Levelmdashyou will have sat one or both of these before So even if youdid not get a high grade or only did one of the two you willstill have seen some of this material before That means youmay find yourself having to do less work and put in fewer hoursthan some of your friends Do not become smug There arestill plenty of ways to fail and over-confidence will be the routeto many of them
For a former PhysicsMaths A-Level student the route tosuccess is to use this year productively and to repair problemsthat occurred during your A-Levels Maintain your studies Ifyou slack-off your skills will become unpracticed and you willbe knocked sideways once we get to the really difficult materialin Semester Two
Everybody elsemdashthe disadvantage that you face is that youwill not have seen as much of the material as the former A-Level students Nevertheless some of our best students wereBTEC students who committed themselves from the outsetand ended-up with higher grades than most A-Level students
Ultimately you are trying to learn in one year what it takesmost students two-years to learn The only way for you to suc-ceed is to embrace that challenge
52 Results and Progression
Do I get a separate certificate or qualification for complet-ing the Foundation Year No the Foundation Year is onlythe first year of a longer degree The qualification is that finaldegree certificate
Does the Foundation Year count towards my degreeaward No your average mark for the Foundation Year willonly determine whether you progress to Year One
Will I get a transcript of my results A Transcript lists themodules undertaken credit value and grades achieved duringeach academic session of study The overall result obtainedwill also be indicated You will receive a transcript upon thesuccessful completion of your programme of study
That means you will not automatically receive a paper tran-script at the end of the Foundation Year as your course (thefull degree) has not yet finished Your official module resultsthose accepted by the Assessment Boards will be availableon myUCLan
Please see the Certificates and Awards webpage formore information You may wish to contact Awardcere-moniesuclanacuk if you have a particular need for a papertranscript
I think Irsquom going to fail what should I do We cannot es-cape the unfortunate fact that not every student on this yearwill progress onto Year One of their chosen degree There areacademic standards for progression (the move from one yearof study to the next) that you must meet Failure to meet thosegrades may result in you having to change to a different courseor potentially leave University after only one year
15
5 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Doing well in these skills is merely a measurement of a sin-gle aptitude It is never a measurement of a personrsquos worth ortheir potential in a different field it may just be that your ap-titudes lie elsewhere Struggling against something that youmay not be suited to can in some circumstances lead to anxi-ety and depression
Please do not be frightened in confronting this before theend of the course Your academic adviser can offer guidancethe student support service has a confidential Counseling Ser-vice for anybody feeling overwhelmed and UCLanrsquos careersservices can all help you evaluate the larger picture
16
Chapter 6
Student Finance
In this chapter we look at how your fees will be used and pro-vide guidelines for typical living costs for students in Preston
61 Tuition Fees
Your tuition fees include
bull Scheduled course tuition academic technical and ad-ministrative support use of course equipment and facil-ities
bull Course related induction activities
bull Placement year academic support (where the course in-cludes a placement year)
bull Course assessment and awards
bull Access to the universityrsquos library and online resourcesincluding on-campus wifi networked and remote accessto the universityrsquos virtual learning environment
bull Use of the universityrsquos estate and resources for scheduledactivities and learning support
bull Dissertation project andor thesis printing and bindingwhere the submission of printed and bound documentsis a requirement for assessment of the module
bull Use of the universityrsquos technical equipment and materialsidentified by the course teaching team as essential for thecompletion of the course
bull The extra items listed against your course in Table 61below
62 Living costs
Living costs are not included in your tuition fees You will needto budget for these separately Table 62 includes an indicationof some typical living costs but everyone is different and youare strongly advised to plan your own budget
You may also need to budget for ldquoone offrdquo or irregular costsTable 63 contains a representative list
63 Additional Costs
There are some costs that may be incurred by some but not allstudents and are not included within the Tuition Fees Theseare listed in Table 64
64 Student Finance
If you are dealing with agencies like Student Finance pleaseremember to tell them the full duration of your course TheFoundation Year adds an additional year to the BScBEng de-grees and MPhysMEng degrees making them 4-years and 5-years long respectively
UCLanrsquos Student Finance Support Team are available to ad-vise you on any problems and can provide short term emer-gency loans in some cases
17
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 61 Table of items included in Student Fees
Course Additional items included in the tuition fees for yourcourse
Foundation Year for Courses covered by this Hand-book
Compulsory text books (see Chapter 4)
BSc (Hons) Robotics EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering
IET Membership
BSc (Hons) Physics years 1 2 and 3 Frontier Education events
BSc (Hons) Motorsports Engineering years 1 2 and 3 Imech E Student RegistrationFormula Student
MPhys (Hons) AstrophysicsBEng (Hons) Computer Aided EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic EngineeringBSc (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringBSc (Hons) Motorsports EngineeringBSc (Hons) PhysicsBSc (Hons) Robotics Engineering
Compulsory text books in year one
18
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
3 BEFORE YOU ARRIVE
Algebra Basics This is a set of materials specifically put to-gether in preparation for US university entrance examswwwkhanacademyorgmathalgebra-basics
313 Additional Resources
There are several additional resources that may be useful toyou Some are free some are not
Bridging GCSE and A-Level Maths by Mark RowlandPublished by Collins ISBN 978-0-00-741023-1 Thisbook covers what you should know from GCSE andindicates where that will lead to at A Level It is about 160pages long with 80 pages of examples and referencesfollowed by 80 pages of problems This may not be souseful if you are too rusty on the GCSE parts
GCSE to A level Jump wwwm4thscomindexphpp=1_12 This website discusses the transition to A-Leveland includes links to several useful resources Werecommend you have a look at the self-audit sheets asthese give good examples of what yoursquoll be facing onyour course
Step UP To A-Level Maths wwwcimtplymouthacukprojectsmepresstep-updefaulthtm This websitelists the skills yoursquoll need to study maths at A-Level andalso includes chapters from a GCSE textbook
Maths Centre wwwmathcentreacuk This site deliverssupport materials (videos and PDF worksheets) free ofcharge to students lecturers and everyone looking forpost-16 maths help
The Jump wwwm4thscomgcse-to-a-level-bridgehtml This is a series of videos that were prepared byM4ths founder Steve Blades There are 30 videos intotal and the first 20 are on YouTube and are linked tofrom Steversquos website
YouTube You will find that there are a lot of helpful videos onYouTube If you get stuck on a topic try a YouTube searchand yoursquoll usually find videos from high school teachersand sometimes university lecturers who have put theirlessons online
32 Stationary
Supplying basic day-to-day style equipment such as pens pa-per and calculators is a studentrsquos responsibility How studentsorganize their work can be highly individualistic Neverthelessit is recommended that all students invest in some basic sta-tionary and something that will allow them to organize the sur-prisingly large amount of paper that will be generated duringtheir studies
The following should be considered as the minimum recom-mended set of equipment
Pens Always make sure that you have got at least one sparepen with youmdashespecially in exams Just as in school weask that students use either blue or black ink during as-sessment Red ink is usually reserved for marking greenink for moderation
Pencil eraser pencil sharpener The received wisdom isthat students use pen for writing and pencil for everythingelse (sketching graphs drawing diagrams etc)
Paper Students have to supply their own paper However theUniversity will provide paper in exams Do not be afraidof using a lot of paper and do not cram too much writingonto a single sheet It is often useful to be able to addnotes or annotations around whatever you have written
Filing You generally have two options here You can eitheruse bound notebooksmdashone per subjectmdashor you can fileloose paper in a binder Both techniques allows you toseparate your notes into different topicslectures
Ruler You will have to draw graphs and diagrams It is veryprobable that you are not Leonard Da Vinci and thus can-not draw an immaculate line free hand Thus a ruler willbe essential
Stapler (and staples)paper clips Something to keep yourlose papers together when they are not in your filing sys-tem Pages of an assignment should always be attachedtogethermdashit is your responsibility to make sure that sub-mitted assignments are in a condition where pages can-not become separated (quite easy when everybodyrsquoswork is piled together)
33 Calculators
In time you will learn to estimate the answers to most calcu-lations on the ldquoback of an enveloperdquo However until then youwill need to use a calculator or app It should be able to handlebasic trigonometry functions (sin cos tan) and their inversespowers (x2
radicx xy) logarithms (base 10 and natural) sci-
entific notation and the ability to work in radians as well asdegrees
If you studied A-Level Maths the calculator you had for thatwill be adequate Good calculator apps are also available onmost computer and mobile phone platforms (eg RealCalc onAndroid Applersquos Calculator for OS X and iOS Windows Cal-culator etc) However phone apps cannot be used in examsand some lecturers may object to you having your phone outin tutorials
We do not prescribe which type of calculator you should useoutside of exam times However you should avoid models thatare too advanced as you will not be able to take them intoexams (see below) A calculator is merely a tool that speedsup a process it will avail you little if you do not first understandthat process It is your responsibility to know how to use yourown calculator
Calculators will be allowed in some exams and youshould bring one to those exams Mobile phones and theirapps are not allowed in exam halls Calculators may not beallowed in some exams particularly those focusing on puremathematics You should check with the Module Leader asto whether a calculator is allowed in the examination for theirModule
Misuse of a calculator is counted as cheating (Unfair Means)under the Exam Regulations A Foundation Year is taught atLevel 3 the same as A-Level we therefore adopt the guideline
10
34 Misc
similar to of the Joint Council for Qualifications1 (the industrybody that represents the A-Level exam boards)
Specifically that in examinations calculators
bull Must not include these functions
ndash Language translators
ndash Symbolic algebra manipulation
ndash Symbolic differentiation or integration
ndash Graphical plotting
ndash Connect to the internet or other machines
bull Must not include retrievable information (eg mathemati-cal formulae text etc)
bull Any programmable memory must be erasable and shouldbe erased prior to the start of any exam
Notes
bull Standard calculator memory is allowed (the standard MMR M+ functions but this must be empty before anyexam begins)
bull Physical constants and unit conversion are allowed solong as those constants and conversions are not user pro-grammable
bull For reference the CASIO FX-85GT Plus is the defaultcalculator that students on our maths degree have in thepast been issued with
34 Misc
bull Carrying stuff around in your bag or rucksack will result init getting batteredmdashbinders become worn holes in paperbecome pulled rulers become chipped Think about thisin advance Possibly leave the full binder in your accom-modation and use card folders to protect notes in transitbefore you file them in the evening Keep your ruler in thesheath that it came in Use a pencil case to keep loosepens pencils etc together
bull There are several stationary shops in town including WHSmiths Staples and Rymans However shop aroundmdashsome shops are decidedly cheaper than others We arescientists and engineers itrsquos functionality that mattersnot style
1As specified in Section 3 of the 2014-15 rsquoICErsquo (Instructions for conductingexaminations)
11
Chapter 4
Text Books
In this Chapter we run down the Course Texts for this Courseand look at other books that might be of relevance Please donot buy the Course Texts yourself These will be distributed toyou upon arrival (the cost is included in your fees)
Any A-Level Physics andor A-Level Maths text book will beuseful to you so bring any existing MathsPhysics books withyou The following Sections also include details of a few othertext books that students might find useful
41 Physics
411 Course Text Introduction to Physics
Introduction to Physics is a full-colour textbook that is linked toa website system called WileyPlus through which you can ac-cess additional resources and a full electronic text of the bookWe will be using WileyPlus as a means of setting assignmentsand homeworks based on material from the Course Text Thisis the book you will be given upon arrival
Full reference John D Cutnell et al (2015) Introduction toPhysics International Student Version 10th ed New JerseyJohn Wiley amp Sons ISBN 9781118651520
412 Additional Texts
bull Jim Breithaupt (2015) Physics 4th ed Basingstoke Pal-grave MacMillan ISBN 9781137443236
bull Gareth Kelly and Nigel Wood (2013) Mathematics for ALevel Physics A Course Companion Cheltenham Illu-minate Publishing
bull Roger Muncaster (1993) A-Level Physics 4th ed Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9780748715848
bull Carol Tear (2013) Maths Skills for A Level Physics Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9781408521205
Breithhauptrsquos Physics is a comparable physics text to Cutnellamp Johnson albeit more compact Muncasterrsquos A-Level Physicsremains a favourite among many A-Level Physics teachersand FE lecturers It can appear rather old school but it is clearprecise and waffle free Muncaster is a text that rewards stu-dents who are willing to study hard The two maths skills books(Kelly amp Woood and Tear) have been written to accompany themathematics that arise in A-Level equivalent Physics The fo-cus here is on the use of maths to solve Physics problemsmore than is on maths for the sake of maths These may beuseful to students who struggle with the application of mathe-matics to physics
42 Mathematics
421 Course Text Foundation Mathematics
Foundation Mathematics is an online only text that is accessi-ble via WileyPlus We will be using WileyPlus as a means ofsetting assignments and homeworks based on material fromthe Course Text Please be aware that a Browser pluging (Wol-framrsquos CDF player) may be necessary to access some contentfrom the bookmdashthese are illustrative applets only and will notimpact upon assessment This is the book you will be givenupon arrival
Full reference Colin Steele et al (2015) Foundation Math-ematics 1st ed New Jersey John Wiley amp Sons ISBN9781118500507
13
4 TEXT BOOKS
422 Additional Texts
bull David Snell et al (2003) Foundations of Advanced Math-ematics 2nd ed London Hodder Education ISBN9780340869260
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2004) Core 1 and 2for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548960
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2005) Core 3 and 4for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548977
Snell et al is an introductory textbook that covers maths ma-terial that spans intermediate-Tier GCSE Maths up to and in-cluding some material from AS-Level Mathematics This wasthe book we recommended for students who have done littleor no A-Level Mathematics before they arrived The Quadlingand Neill textbooks accompany the OCRrsquos A-Level Mathemat-ics We will be covering comparable material in our Mathe-matics Modules Students who take the advanced MAC mathsmodules will be supplied with these books if necessary
43 Study Skills
We will integrate general study skills into our Physics teachinghighlighting where certain skills are important and showcasinghow you can learn more To support this we have chosen agood all round study guide (listed below) as the Course TextThis will be given to you when you arrive at UCLan
Nevertheless there are other books available (including anextensive range from Palgrave) These may be of interest tostudents who know that they have faced study problems in thepast or who are new to studying in a more academic and lessvocational manner
431 Course Text Study Skills For ScienceEngineering amp Technology Students
Itrsquos blurb describes it as an ldquoaccessible student-friendly hand-book that covers all of the essential study skills that will ensureyou get the most out of your Science Engineering or Technol-ogy courserdquo A good all round book that covers academic andpersonal skills We will be using sections from this book as thebasis for some of your skills sessions This is the book you willbe given upon arrival
Full reference Pat Maier Anna Barney and Geraldine Price(2009) Study Skills for Science Engineering and TechnologyStudents Harlow Pearson ISBN 9780273720737
432 Additional Texts
bull Stella Cottrell (2013) The Study Skills Handbook 4th edBasingstroke Palgrave MacMillan ISBN 978113728925
bull David Sands (2004) Studying Physics BasingstrokePalgrave MacMillan ISBN 9781403903280
Stellar Cottrell has established herself as one of the leadingauthors in the field of Study Skills and The Study Skills Hand-book is her flagship volume It contains a lot of practical guidesand information about how to successfully manage your stud-ies Studying Physics describes itself as ldquoa unique guide tothe essential skills in physics you need to acquire by the timeyou graduaterdquo Although this book comes under the PalgraveStudy Skills banner it is really more of an academic text thanmany other Study Skills books It focuses more towards beinga reference text than a self-help one
14
Chapter 5
Frequently Asked Questions
51 Study Time
How much work should I do Courses at UCLan are de-signed with the expectation that students can achieve a suc-cessful result by studying for 10 hours for each credit they needto achieve This includes attendance at UCLan and time spentin private study
Your modules are all worth 20 credits so you should ex-pect to do a minimum of 200 study hours for each of themThat 200-hours contains 3 hours per week of class contacttime (approximately 70 hours) The remaining will be under-taken by you as self-study support work in readiness for theclasses and assessment time The module descriptors (avail-able on eLearn) include an indicative breakdown of how thestudy time may be divided between various activities suchas reviewing lectures trying practice questions and attempt-ing assessments
Do not underestimate the amount of work you need to do toachieve your potential As a rough guide there are about 31weeks in the teaching year (24 in-class weeks 2-3 revisionsweeks amp 4 exam weeks) Six modules at 200 hours per mod-ule equals 1200 hours Spread out over those 31 weeks thisequates to about 39 hours a week ie the same hours as afull time job
Why am I having to work harder do less work than myfriends You may find yourselves having to work harder andput in more hours than some of your friends This is perfectlynatural and is a by-product of your individual experiences
Students who have done either maths or physics A-Levelmdashyou will have sat one or both of these before So even if youdid not get a high grade or only did one of the two you willstill have seen some of this material before That means youmay find yourself having to do less work and put in fewer hoursthan some of your friends Do not become smug There arestill plenty of ways to fail and over-confidence will be the routeto many of them
For a former PhysicsMaths A-Level student the route tosuccess is to use this year productively and to repair problemsthat occurred during your A-Levels Maintain your studies Ifyou slack-off your skills will become unpracticed and you willbe knocked sideways once we get to the really difficult materialin Semester Two
Everybody elsemdashthe disadvantage that you face is that youwill not have seen as much of the material as the former A-Level students Nevertheless some of our best students wereBTEC students who committed themselves from the outsetand ended-up with higher grades than most A-Level students
Ultimately you are trying to learn in one year what it takesmost students two-years to learn The only way for you to suc-ceed is to embrace that challenge
52 Results and Progression
Do I get a separate certificate or qualification for complet-ing the Foundation Year No the Foundation Year is onlythe first year of a longer degree The qualification is that finaldegree certificate
Does the Foundation Year count towards my degreeaward No your average mark for the Foundation Year willonly determine whether you progress to Year One
Will I get a transcript of my results A Transcript lists themodules undertaken credit value and grades achieved duringeach academic session of study The overall result obtainedwill also be indicated You will receive a transcript upon thesuccessful completion of your programme of study
That means you will not automatically receive a paper tran-script at the end of the Foundation Year as your course (thefull degree) has not yet finished Your official module resultsthose accepted by the Assessment Boards will be availableon myUCLan
Please see the Certificates and Awards webpage formore information You may wish to contact Awardcere-moniesuclanacuk if you have a particular need for a papertranscript
I think Irsquom going to fail what should I do We cannot es-cape the unfortunate fact that not every student on this yearwill progress onto Year One of their chosen degree There areacademic standards for progression (the move from one yearof study to the next) that you must meet Failure to meet thosegrades may result in you having to change to a different courseor potentially leave University after only one year
15
5 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Doing well in these skills is merely a measurement of a sin-gle aptitude It is never a measurement of a personrsquos worth ortheir potential in a different field it may just be that your ap-titudes lie elsewhere Struggling against something that youmay not be suited to can in some circumstances lead to anxi-ety and depression
Please do not be frightened in confronting this before theend of the course Your academic adviser can offer guidancethe student support service has a confidential Counseling Ser-vice for anybody feeling overwhelmed and UCLanrsquos careersservices can all help you evaluate the larger picture
16
Chapter 6
Student Finance
In this chapter we look at how your fees will be used and pro-vide guidelines for typical living costs for students in Preston
61 Tuition Fees
Your tuition fees include
bull Scheduled course tuition academic technical and ad-ministrative support use of course equipment and facil-ities
bull Course related induction activities
bull Placement year academic support (where the course in-cludes a placement year)
bull Course assessment and awards
bull Access to the universityrsquos library and online resourcesincluding on-campus wifi networked and remote accessto the universityrsquos virtual learning environment
bull Use of the universityrsquos estate and resources for scheduledactivities and learning support
bull Dissertation project andor thesis printing and bindingwhere the submission of printed and bound documentsis a requirement for assessment of the module
bull Use of the universityrsquos technical equipment and materialsidentified by the course teaching team as essential for thecompletion of the course
bull The extra items listed against your course in Table 61below
62 Living costs
Living costs are not included in your tuition fees You will needto budget for these separately Table 62 includes an indicationof some typical living costs but everyone is different and youare strongly advised to plan your own budget
You may also need to budget for ldquoone offrdquo or irregular costsTable 63 contains a representative list
63 Additional Costs
There are some costs that may be incurred by some but not allstudents and are not included within the Tuition Fees Theseare listed in Table 64
64 Student Finance
If you are dealing with agencies like Student Finance pleaseremember to tell them the full duration of your course TheFoundation Year adds an additional year to the BScBEng de-grees and MPhysMEng degrees making them 4-years and 5-years long respectively
UCLanrsquos Student Finance Support Team are available to ad-vise you on any problems and can provide short term emer-gency loans in some cases
17
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 61 Table of items included in Student Fees
Course Additional items included in the tuition fees for yourcourse
Foundation Year for Courses covered by this Hand-book
Compulsory text books (see Chapter 4)
BSc (Hons) Robotics EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering
IET Membership
BSc (Hons) Physics years 1 2 and 3 Frontier Education events
BSc (Hons) Motorsports Engineering years 1 2 and 3 Imech E Student RegistrationFormula Student
MPhys (Hons) AstrophysicsBEng (Hons) Computer Aided EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic EngineeringBSc (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringBSc (Hons) Motorsports EngineeringBSc (Hons) PhysicsBSc (Hons) Robotics Engineering
Compulsory text books in year one
18
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
34 Misc
similar to of the Joint Council for Qualifications1 (the industrybody that represents the A-Level exam boards)
Specifically that in examinations calculators
bull Must not include these functions
ndash Language translators
ndash Symbolic algebra manipulation
ndash Symbolic differentiation or integration
ndash Graphical plotting
ndash Connect to the internet or other machines
bull Must not include retrievable information (eg mathemati-cal formulae text etc)
bull Any programmable memory must be erasable and shouldbe erased prior to the start of any exam
Notes
bull Standard calculator memory is allowed (the standard MMR M+ functions but this must be empty before anyexam begins)
bull Physical constants and unit conversion are allowed solong as those constants and conversions are not user pro-grammable
bull For reference the CASIO FX-85GT Plus is the defaultcalculator that students on our maths degree have in thepast been issued with
34 Misc
bull Carrying stuff around in your bag or rucksack will result init getting batteredmdashbinders become worn holes in paperbecome pulled rulers become chipped Think about thisin advance Possibly leave the full binder in your accom-modation and use card folders to protect notes in transitbefore you file them in the evening Keep your ruler in thesheath that it came in Use a pencil case to keep loosepens pencils etc together
bull There are several stationary shops in town including WHSmiths Staples and Rymans However shop aroundmdashsome shops are decidedly cheaper than others We arescientists and engineers itrsquos functionality that mattersnot style
1As specified in Section 3 of the 2014-15 rsquoICErsquo (Instructions for conductingexaminations)
11
Chapter 4
Text Books
In this Chapter we run down the Course Texts for this Courseand look at other books that might be of relevance Please donot buy the Course Texts yourself These will be distributed toyou upon arrival (the cost is included in your fees)
Any A-Level Physics andor A-Level Maths text book will beuseful to you so bring any existing MathsPhysics books withyou The following Sections also include details of a few othertext books that students might find useful
41 Physics
411 Course Text Introduction to Physics
Introduction to Physics is a full-colour textbook that is linked toa website system called WileyPlus through which you can ac-cess additional resources and a full electronic text of the bookWe will be using WileyPlus as a means of setting assignmentsand homeworks based on material from the Course Text Thisis the book you will be given upon arrival
Full reference John D Cutnell et al (2015) Introduction toPhysics International Student Version 10th ed New JerseyJohn Wiley amp Sons ISBN 9781118651520
412 Additional Texts
bull Jim Breithaupt (2015) Physics 4th ed Basingstoke Pal-grave MacMillan ISBN 9781137443236
bull Gareth Kelly and Nigel Wood (2013) Mathematics for ALevel Physics A Course Companion Cheltenham Illu-minate Publishing
bull Roger Muncaster (1993) A-Level Physics 4th ed Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9780748715848
bull Carol Tear (2013) Maths Skills for A Level Physics Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9781408521205
Breithhauptrsquos Physics is a comparable physics text to Cutnellamp Johnson albeit more compact Muncasterrsquos A-Level Physicsremains a favourite among many A-Level Physics teachersand FE lecturers It can appear rather old school but it is clearprecise and waffle free Muncaster is a text that rewards stu-dents who are willing to study hard The two maths skills books(Kelly amp Woood and Tear) have been written to accompany themathematics that arise in A-Level equivalent Physics The fo-cus here is on the use of maths to solve Physics problemsmore than is on maths for the sake of maths These may beuseful to students who struggle with the application of mathe-matics to physics
42 Mathematics
421 Course Text Foundation Mathematics
Foundation Mathematics is an online only text that is accessi-ble via WileyPlus We will be using WileyPlus as a means ofsetting assignments and homeworks based on material fromthe Course Text Please be aware that a Browser pluging (Wol-framrsquos CDF player) may be necessary to access some contentfrom the bookmdashthese are illustrative applets only and will notimpact upon assessment This is the book you will be givenupon arrival
Full reference Colin Steele et al (2015) Foundation Math-ematics 1st ed New Jersey John Wiley amp Sons ISBN9781118500507
13
4 TEXT BOOKS
422 Additional Texts
bull David Snell et al (2003) Foundations of Advanced Math-ematics 2nd ed London Hodder Education ISBN9780340869260
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2004) Core 1 and 2for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548960
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2005) Core 3 and 4for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548977
Snell et al is an introductory textbook that covers maths ma-terial that spans intermediate-Tier GCSE Maths up to and in-cluding some material from AS-Level Mathematics This wasthe book we recommended for students who have done littleor no A-Level Mathematics before they arrived The Quadlingand Neill textbooks accompany the OCRrsquos A-Level Mathemat-ics We will be covering comparable material in our Mathe-matics Modules Students who take the advanced MAC mathsmodules will be supplied with these books if necessary
43 Study Skills
We will integrate general study skills into our Physics teachinghighlighting where certain skills are important and showcasinghow you can learn more To support this we have chosen agood all round study guide (listed below) as the Course TextThis will be given to you when you arrive at UCLan
Nevertheless there are other books available (including anextensive range from Palgrave) These may be of interest tostudents who know that they have faced study problems in thepast or who are new to studying in a more academic and lessvocational manner
431 Course Text Study Skills For ScienceEngineering amp Technology Students
Itrsquos blurb describes it as an ldquoaccessible student-friendly hand-book that covers all of the essential study skills that will ensureyou get the most out of your Science Engineering or Technol-ogy courserdquo A good all round book that covers academic andpersonal skills We will be using sections from this book as thebasis for some of your skills sessions This is the book you willbe given upon arrival
Full reference Pat Maier Anna Barney and Geraldine Price(2009) Study Skills for Science Engineering and TechnologyStudents Harlow Pearson ISBN 9780273720737
432 Additional Texts
bull Stella Cottrell (2013) The Study Skills Handbook 4th edBasingstroke Palgrave MacMillan ISBN 978113728925
bull David Sands (2004) Studying Physics BasingstrokePalgrave MacMillan ISBN 9781403903280
Stellar Cottrell has established herself as one of the leadingauthors in the field of Study Skills and The Study Skills Hand-book is her flagship volume It contains a lot of practical guidesand information about how to successfully manage your stud-ies Studying Physics describes itself as ldquoa unique guide tothe essential skills in physics you need to acquire by the timeyou graduaterdquo Although this book comes under the PalgraveStudy Skills banner it is really more of an academic text thanmany other Study Skills books It focuses more towards beinga reference text than a self-help one
14
Chapter 5
Frequently Asked Questions
51 Study Time
How much work should I do Courses at UCLan are de-signed with the expectation that students can achieve a suc-cessful result by studying for 10 hours for each credit they needto achieve This includes attendance at UCLan and time spentin private study
Your modules are all worth 20 credits so you should ex-pect to do a minimum of 200 study hours for each of themThat 200-hours contains 3 hours per week of class contacttime (approximately 70 hours) The remaining will be under-taken by you as self-study support work in readiness for theclasses and assessment time The module descriptors (avail-able on eLearn) include an indicative breakdown of how thestudy time may be divided between various activities suchas reviewing lectures trying practice questions and attempt-ing assessments
Do not underestimate the amount of work you need to do toachieve your potential As a rough guide there are about 31weeks in the teaching year (24 in-class weeks 2-3 revisionsweeks amp 4 exam weeks) Six modules at 200 hours per mod-ule equals 1200 hours Spread out over those 31 weeks thisequates to about 39 hours a week ie the same hours as afull time job
Why am I having to work harder do less work than myfriends You may find yourselves having to work harder andput in more hours than some of your friends This is perfectlynatural and is a by-product of your individual experiences
Students who have done either maths or physics A-Levelmdashyou will have sat one or both of these before So even if youdid not get a high grade or only did one of the two you willstill have seen some of this material before That means youmay find yourself having to do less work and put in fewer hoursthan some of your friends Do not become smug There arestill plenty of ways to fail and over-confidence will be the routeto many of them
For a former PhysicsMaths A-Level student the route tosuccess is to use this year productively and to repair problemsthat occurred during your A-Levels Maintain your studies Ifyou slack-off your skills will become unpracticed and you willbe knocked sideways once we get to the really difficult materialin Semester Two
Everybody elsemdashthe disadvantage that you face is that youwill not have seen as much of the material as the former A-Level students Nevertheless some of our best students wereBTEC students who committed themselves from the outsetand ended-up with higher grades than most A-Level students
Ultimately you are trying to learn in one year what it takesmost students two-years to learn The only way for you to suc-ceed is to embrace that challenge
52 Results and Progression
Do I get a separate certificate or qualification for complet-ing the Foundation Year No the Foundation Year is onlythe first year of a longer degree The qualification is that finaldegree certificate
Does the Foundation Year count towards my degreeaward No your average mark for the Foundation Year willonly determine whether you progress to Year One
Will I get a transcript of my results A Transcript lists themodules undertaken credit value and grades achieved duringeach academic session of study The overall result obtainedwill also be indicated You will receive a transcript upon thesuccessful completion of your programme of study
That means you will not automatically receive a paper tran-script at the end of the Foundation Year as your course (thefull degree) has not yet finished Your official module resultsthose accepted by the Assessment Boards will be availableon myUCLan
Please see the Certificates and Awards webpage formore information You may wish to contact Awardcere-moniesuclanacuk if you have a particular need for a papertranscript
I think Irsquom going to fail what should I do We cannot es-cape the unfortunate fact that not every student on this yearwill progress onto Year One of their chosen degree There areacademic standards for progression (the move from one yearof study to the next) that you must meet Failure to meet thosegrades may result in you having to change to a different courseor potentially leave University after only one year
15
5 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Doing well in these skills is merely a measurement of a sin-gle aptitude It is never a measurement of a personrsquos worth ortheir potential in a different field it may just be that your ap-titudes lie elsewhere Struggling against something that youmay not be suited to can in some circumstances lead to anxi-ety and depression
Please do not be frightened in confronting this before theend of the course Your academic adviser can offer guidancethe student support service has a confidential Counseling Ser-vice for anybody feeling overwhelmed and UCLanrsquos careersservices can all help you evaluate the larger picture
16
Chapter 6
Student Finance
In this chapter we look at how your fees will be used and pro-vide guidelines for typical living costs for students in Preston
61 Tuition Fees
Your tuition fees include
bull Scheduled course tuition academic technical and ad-ministrative support use of course equipment and facil-ities
bull Course related induction activities
bull Placement year academic support (where the course in-cludes a placement year)
bull Course assessment and awards
bull Access to the universityrsquos library and online resourcesincluding on-campus wifi networked and remote accessto the universityrsquos virtual learning environment
bull Use of the universityrsquos estate and resources for scheduledactivities and learning support
bull Dissertation project andor thesis printing and bindingwhere the submission of printed and bound documentsis a requirement for assessment of the module
bull Use of the universityrsquos technical equipment and materialsidentified by the course teaching team as essential for thecompletion of the course
bull The extra items listed against your course in Table 61below
62 Living costs
Living costs are not included in your tuition fees You will needto budget for these separately Table 62 includes an indicationof some typical living costs but everyone is different and youare strongly advised to plan your own budget
You may also need to budget for ldquoone offrdquo or irregular costsTable 63 contains a representative list
63 Additional Costs
There are some costs that may be incurred by some but not allstudents and are not included within the Tuition Fees Theseare listed in Table 64
64 Student Finance
If you are dealing with agencies like Student Finance pleaseremember to tell them the full duration of your course TheFoundation Year adds an additional year to the BScBEng de-grees and MPhysMEng degrees making them 4-years and 5-years long respectively
UCLanrsquos Student Finance Support Team are available to ad-vise you on any problems and can provide short term emer-gency loans in some cases
17
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 61 Table of items included in Student Fees
Course Additional items included in the tuition fees for yourcourse
Foundation Year for Courses covered by this Hand-book
Compulsory text books (see Chapter 4)
BSc (Hons) Robotics EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering
IET Membership
BSc (Hons) Physics years 1 2 and 3 Frontier Education events
BSc (Hons) Motorsports Engineering years 1 2 and 3 Imech E Student RegistrationFormula Student
MPhys (Hons) AstrophysicsBEng (Hons) Computer Aided EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic EngineeringBSc (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringBSc (Hons) Motorsports EngineeringBSc (Hons) PhysicsBSc (Hons) Robotics Engineering
Compulsory text books in year one
18
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Chapter 4
Text Books
In this Chapter we run down the Course Texts for this Courseand look at other books that might be of relevance Please donot buy the Course Texts yourself These will be distributed toyou upon arrival (the cost is included in your fees)
Any A-Level Physics andor A-Level Maths text book will beuseful to you so bring any existing MathsPhysics books withyou The following Sections also include details of a few othertext books that students might find useful
41 Physics
411 Course Text Introduction to Physics
Introduction to Physics is a full-colour textbook that is linked toa website system called WileyPlus through which you can ac-cess additional resources and a full electronic text of the bookWe will be using WileyPlus as a means of setting assignmentsand homeworks based on material from the Course Text Thisis the book you will be given upon arrival
Full reference John D Cutnell et al (2015) Introduction toPhysics International Student Version 10th ed New JerseyJohn Wiley amp Sons ISBN 9781118651520
412 Additional Texts
bull Jim Breithaupt (2015) Physics 4th ed Basingstoke Pal-grave MacMillan ISBN 9781137443236
bull Gareth Kelly and Nigel Wood (2013) Mathematics for ALevel Physics A Course Companion Cheltenham Illu-minate Publishing
bull Roger Muncaster (1993) A-Level Physics 4th ed Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9780748715848
bull Carol Tear (2013) Maths Skills for A Level Physics Chel-tenham Nelson Thornes ISBN 9781408521205
Breithhauptrsquos Physics is a comparable physics text to Cutnellamp Johnson albeit more compact Muncasterrsquos A-Level Physicsremains a favourite among many A-Level Physics teachersand FE lecturers It can appear rather old school but it is clearprecise and waffle free Muncaster is a text that rewards stu-dents who are willing to study hard The two maths skills books(Kelly amp Woood and Tear) have been written to accompany themathematics that arise in A-Level equivalent Physics The fo-cus here is on the use of maths to solve Physics problemsmore than is on maths for the sake of maths These may beuseful to students who struggle with the application of mathe-matics to physics
42 Mathematics
421 Course Text Foundation Mathematics
Foundation Mathematics is an online only text that is accessi-ble via WileyPlus We will be using WileyPlus as a means ofsetting assignments and homeworks based on material fromthe Course Text Please be aware that a Browser pluging (Wol-framrsquos CDF player) may be necessary to access some contentfrom the bookmdashthese are illustrative applets only and will notimpact upon assessment This is the book you will be givenupon arrival
Full reference Colin Steele et al (2015) Foundation Math-ematics 1st ed New Jersey John Wiley amp Sons ISBN9781118500507
13
4 TEXT BOOKS
422 Additional Texts
bull David Snell et al (2003) Foundations of Advanced Math-ematics 2nd ed London Hodder Education ISBN9780340869260
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2004) Core 1 and 2for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548960
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2005) Core 3 and 4for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548977
Snell et al is an introductory textbook that covers maths ma-terial that spans intermediate-Tier GCSE Maths up to and in-cluding some material from AS-Level Mathematics This wasthe book we recommended for students who have done littleor no A-Level Mathematics before they arrived The Quadlingand Neill textbooks accompany the OCRrsquos A-Level Mathemat-ics We will be covering comparable material in our Mathe-matics Modules Students who take the advanced MAC mathsmodules will be supplied with these books if necessary
43 Study Skills
We will integrate general study skills into our Physics teachinghighlighting where certain skills are important and showcasinghow you can learn more To support this we have chosen agood all round study guide (listed below) as the Course TextThis will be given to you when you arrive at UCLan
Nevertheless there are other books available (including anextensive range from Palgrave) These may be of interest tostudents who know that they have faced study problems in thepast or who are new to studying in a more academic and lessvocational manner
431 Course Text Study Skills For ScienceEngineering amp Technology Students
Itrsquos blurb describes it as an ldquoaccessible student-friendly hand-book that covers all of the essential study skills that will ensureyou get the most out of your Science Engineering or Technol-ogy courserdquo A good all round book that covers academic andpersonal skills We will be using sections from this book as thebasis for some of your skills sessions This is the book you willbe given upon arrival
Full reference Pat Maier Anna Barney and Geraldine Price(2009) Study Skills for Science Engineering and TechnologyStudents Harlow Pearson ISBN 9780273720737
432 Additional Texts
bull Stella Cottrell (2013) The Study Skills Handbook 4th edBasingstroke Palgrave MacMillan ISBN 978113728925
bull David Sands (2004) Studying Physics BasingstrokePalgrave MacMillan ISBN 9781403903280
Stellar Cottrell has established herself as one of the leadingauthors in the field of Study Skills and The Study Skills Hand-book is her flagship volume It contains a lot of practical guidesand information about how to successfully manage your stud-ies Studying Physics describes itself as ldquoa unique guide tothe essential skills in physics you need to acquire by the timeyou graduaterdquo Although this book comes under the PalgraveStudy Skills banner it is really more of an academic text thanmany other Study Skills books It focuses more towards beinga reference text than a self-help one
14
Chapter 5
Frequently Asked Questions
51 Study Time
How much work should I do Courses at UCLan are de-signed with the expectation that students can achieve a suc-cessful result by studying for 10 hours for each credit they needto achieve This includes attendance at UCLan and time spentin private study
Your modules are all worth 20 credits so you should ex-pect to do a minimum of 200 study hours for each of themThat 200-hours contains 3 hours per week of class contacttime (approximately 70 hours) The remaining will be under-taken by you as self-study support work in readiness for theclasses and assessment time The module descriptors (avail-able on eLearn) include an indicative breakdown of how thestudy time may be divided between various activities suchas reviewing lectures trying practice questions and attempt-ing assessments
Do not underestimate the amount of work you need to do toachieve your potential As a rough guide there are about 31weeks in the teaching year (24 in-class weeks 2-3 revisionsweeks amp 4 exam weeks) Six modules at 200 hours per mod-ule equals 1200 hours Spread out over those 31 weeks thisequates to about 39 hours a week ie the same hours as afull time job
Why am I having to work harder do less work than myfriends You may find yourselves having to work harder andput in more hours than some of your friends This is perfectlynatural and is a by-product of your individual experiences
Students who have done either maths or physics A-Levelmdashyou will have sat one or both of these before So even if youdid not get a high grade or only did one of the two you willstill have seen some of this material before That means youmay find yourself having to do less work and put in fewer hoursthan some of your friends Do not become smug There arestill plenty of ways to fail and over-confidence will be the routeto many of them
For a former PhysicsMaths A-Level student the route tosuccess is to use this year productively and to repair problemsthat occurred during your A-Levels Maintain your studies Ifyou slack-off your skills will become unpracticed and you willbe knocked sideways once we get to the really difficult materialin Semester Two
Everybody elsemdashthe disadvantage that you face is that youwill not have seen as much of the material as the former A-Level students Nevertheless some of our best students wereBTEC students who committed themselves from the outsetand ended-up with higher grades than most A-Level students
Ultimately you are trying to learn in one year what it takesmost students two-years to learn The only way for you to suc-ceed is to embrace that challenge
52 Results and Progression
Do I get a separate certificate or qualification for complet-ing the Foundation Year No the Foundation Year is onlythe first year of a longer degree The qualification is that finaldegree certificate
Does the Foundation Year count towards my degreeaward No your average mark for the Foundation Year willonly determine whether you progress to Year One
Will I get a transcript of my results A Transcript lists themodules undertaken credit value and grades achieved duringeach academic session of study The overall result obtainedwill also be indicated You will receive a transcript upon thesuccessful completion of your programme of study
That means you will not automatically receive a paper tran-script at the end of the Foundation Year as your course (thefull degree) has not yet finished Your official module resultsthose accepted by the Assessment Boards will be availableon myUCLan
Please see the Certificates and Awards webpage formore information You may wish to contact Awardcere-moniesuclanacuk if you have a particular need for a papertranscript
I think Irsquom going to fail what should I do We cannot es-cape the unfortunate fact that not every student on this yearwill progress onto Year One of their chosen degree There areacademic standards for progression (the move from one yearof study to the next) that you must meet Failure to meet thosegrades may result in you having to change to a different courseor potentially leave University after only one year
15
5 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Doing well in these skills is merely a measurement of a sin-gle aptitude It is never a measurement of a personrsquos worth ortheir potential in a different field it may just be that your ap-titudes lie elsewhere Struggling against something that youmay not be suited to can in some circumstances lead to anxi-ety and depression
Please do not be frightened in confronting this before theend of the course Your academic adviser can offer guidancethe student support service has a confidential Counseling Ser-vice for anybody feeling overwhelmed and UCLanrsquos careersservices can all help you evaluate the larger picture
16
Chapter 6
Student Finance
In this chapter we look at how your fees will be used and pro-vide guidelines for typical living costs for students in Preston
61 Tuition Fees
Your tuition fees include
bull Scheduled course tuition academic technical and ad-ministrative support use of course equipment and facil-ities
bull Course related induction activities
bull Placement year academic support (where the course in-cludes a placement year)
bull Course assessment and awards
bull Access to the universityrsquos library and online resourcesincluding on-campus wifi networked and remote accessto the universityrsquos virtual learning environment
bull Use of the universityrsquos estate and resources for scheduledactivities and learning support
bull Dissertation project andor thesis printing and bindingwhere the submission of printed and bound documentsis a requirement for assessment of the module
bull Use of the universityrsquos technical equipment and materialsidentified by the course teaching team as essential for thecompletion of the course
bull The extra items listed against your course in Table 61below
62 Living costs
Living costs are not included in your tuition fees You will needto budget for these separately Table 62 includes an indicationof some typical living costs but everyone is different and youare strongly advised to plan your own budget
You may also need to budget for ldquoone offrdquo or irregular costsTable 63 contains a representative list
63 Additional Costs
There are some costs that may be incurred by some but not allstudents and are not included within the Tuition Fees Theseare listed in Table 64
64 Student Finance
If you are dealing with agencies like Student Finance pleaseremember to tell them the full duration of your course TheFoundation Year adds an additional year to the BScBEng de-grees and MPhysMEng degrees making them 4-years and 5-years long respectively
UCLanrsquos Student Finance Support Team are available to ad-vise you on any problems and can provide short term emer-gency loans in some cases
17
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 61 Table of items included in Student Fees
Course Additional items included in the tuition fees for yourcourse
Foundation Year for Courses covered by this Hand-book
Compulsory text books (see Chapter 4)
BSc (Hons) Robotics EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering
IET Membership
BSc (Hons) Physics years 1 2 and 3 Frontier Education events
BSc (Hons) Motorsports Engineering years 1 2 and 3 Imech E Student RegistrationFormula Student
MPhys (Hons) AstrophysicsBEng (Hons) Computer Aided EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic EngineeringBSc (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringBSc (Hons) Motorsports EngineeringBSc (Hons) PhysicsBSc (Hons) Robotics Engineering
Compulsory text books in year one
18
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
4 TEXT BOOKS
422 Additional Texts
bull David Snell et al (2003) Foundations of Advanced Math-ematics 2nd ed London Hodder Education ISBN9780340869260
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2004) Core 1 and 2for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548960
bull Douglas Quadling and Hugh Neill (2005) Core 3 and 4for OCR Cambridge Cambridge University Press ISBN9780521548977
Snell et al is an introductory textbook that covers maths ma-terial that spans intermediate-Tier GCSE Maths up to and in-cluding some material from AS-Level Mathematics This wasthe book we recommended for students who have done littleor no A-Level Mathematics before they arrived The Quadlingand Neill textbooks accompany the OCRrsquos A-Level Mathemat-ics We will be covering comparable material in our Mathe-matics Modules Students who take the advanced MAC mathsmodules will be supplied with these books if necessary
43 Study Skills
We will integrate general study skills into our Physics teachinghighlighting where certain skills are important and showcasinghow you can learn more To support this we have chosen agood all round study guide (listed below) as the Course TextThis will be given to you when you arrive at UCLan
Nevertheless there are other books available (including anextensive range from Palgrave) These may be of interest tostudents who know that they have faced study problems in thepast or who are new to studying in a more academic and lessvocational manner
431 Course Text Study Skills For ScienceEngineering amp Technology Students
Itrsquos blurb describes it as an ldquoaccessible student-friendly hand-book that covers all of the essential study skills that will ensureyou get the most out of your Science Engineering or Technol-ogy courserdquo A good all round book that covers academic andpersonal skills We will be using sections from this book as thebasis for some of your skills sessions This is the book you willbe given upon arrival
Full reference Pat Maier Anna Barney and Geraldine Price(2009) Study Skills for Science Engineering and TechnologyStudents Harlow Pearson ISBN 9780273720737
432 Additional Texts
bull Stella Cottrell (2013) The Study Skills Handbook 4th edBasingstroke Palgrave MacMillan ISBN 978113728925
bull David Sands (2004) Studying Physics BasingstrokePalgrave MacMillan ISBN 9781403903280
Stellar Cottrell has established herself as one of the leadingauthors in the field of Study Skills and The Study Skills Hand-book is her flagship volume It contains a lot of practical guidesand information about how to successfully manage your stud-ies Studying Physics describes itself as ldquoa unique guide tothe essential skills in physics you need to acquire by the timeyou graduaterdquo Although this book comes under the PalgraveStudy Skills banner it is really more of an academic text thanmany other Study Skills books It focuses more towards beinga reference text than a self-help one
14
Chapter 5
Frequently Asked Questions
51 Study Time
How much work should I do Courses at UCLan are de-signed with the expectation that students can achieve a suc-cessful result by studying for 10 hours for each credit they needto achieve This includes attendance at UCLan and time spentin private study
Your modules are all worth 20 credits so you should ex-pect to do a minimum of 200 study hours for each of themThat 200-hours contains 3 hours per week of class contacttime (approximately 70 hours) The remaining will be under-taken by you as self-study support work in readiness for theclasses and assessment time The module descriptors (avail-able on eLearn) include an indicative breakdown of how thestudy time may be divided between various activities suchas reviewing lectures trying practice questions and attempt-ing assessments
Do not underestimate the amount of work you need to do toachieve your potential As a rough guide there are about 31weeks in the teaching year (24 in-class weeks 2-3 revisionsweeks amp 4 exam weeks) Six modules at 200 hours per mod-ule equals 1200 hours Spread out over those 31 weeks thisequates to about 39 hours a week ie the same hours as afull time job
Why am I having to work harder do less work than myfriends You may find yourselves having to work harder andput in more hours than some of your friends This is perfectlynatural and is a by-product of your individual experiences
Students who have done either maths or physics A-Levelmdashyou will have sat one or both of these before So even if youdid not get a high grade or only did one of the two you willstill have seen some of this material before That means youmay find yourself having to do less work and put in fewer hoursthan some of your friends Do not become smug There arestill plenty of ways to fail and over-confidence will be the routeto many of them
For a former PhysicsMaths A-Level student the route tosuccess is to use this year productively and to repair problemsthat occurred during your A-Levels Maintain your studies Ifyou slack-off your skills will become unpracticed and you willbe knocked sideways once we get to the really difficult materialin Semester Two
Everybody elsemdashthe disadvantage that you face is that youwill not have seen as much of the material as the former A-Level students Nevertheless some of our best students wereBTEC students who committed themselves from the outsetand ended-up with higher grades than most A-Level students
Ultimately you are trying to learn in one year what it takesmost students two-years to learn The only way for you to suc-ceed is to embrace that challenge
52 Results and Progression
Do I get a separate certificate or qualification for complet-ing the Foundation Year No the Foundation Year is onlythe first year of a longer degree The qualification is that finaldegree certificate
Does the Foundation Year count towards my degreeaward No your average mark for the Foundation Year willonly determine whether you progress to Year One
Will I get a transcript of my results A Transcript lists themodules undertaken credit value and grades achieved duringeach academic session of study The overall result obtainedwill also be indicated You will receive a transcript upon thesuccessful completion of your programme of study
That means you will not automatically receive a paper tran-script at the end of the Foundation Year as your course (thefull degree) has not yet finished Your official module resultsthose accepted by the Assessment Boards will be availableon myUCLan
Please see the Certificates and Awards webpage formore information You may wish to contact Awardcere-moniesuclanacuk if you have a particular need for a papertranscript
I think Irsquom going to fail what should I do We cannot es-cape the unfortunate fact that not every student on this yearwill progress onto Year One of their chosen degree There areacademic standards for progression (the move from one yearof study to the next) that you must meet Failure to meet thosegrades may result in you having to change to a different courseor potentially leave University after only one year
15
5 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Doing well in these skills is merely a measurement of a sin-gle aptitude It is never a measurement of a personrsquos worth ortheir potential in a different field it may just be that your ap-titudes lie elsewhere Struggling against something that youmay not be suited to can in some circumstances lead to anxi-ety and depression
Please do not be frightened in confronting this before theend of the course Your academic adviser can offer guidancethe student support service has a confidential Counseling Ser-vice for anybody feeling overwhelmed and UCLanrsquos careersservices can all help you evaluate the larger picture
16
Chapter 6
Student Finance
In this chapter we look at how your fees will be used and pro-vide guidelines for typical living costs for students in Preston
61 Tuition Fees
Your tuition fees include
bull Scheduled course tuition academic technical and ad-ministrative support use of course equipment and facil-ities
bull Course related induction activities
bull Placement year academic support (where the course in-cludes a placement year)
bull Course assessment and awards
bull Access to the universityrsquos library and online resourcesincluding on-campus wifi networked and remote accessto the universityrsquos virtual learning environment
bull Use of the universityrsquos estate and resources for scheduledactivities and learning support
bull Dissertation project andor thesis printing and bindingwhere the submission of printed and bound documentsis a requirement for assessment of the module
bull Use of the universityrsquos technical equipment and materialsidentified by the course teaching team as essential for thecompletion of the course
bull The extra items listed against your course in Table 61below
62 Living costs
Living costs are not included in your tuition fees You will needto budget for these separately Table 62 includes an indicationof some typical living costs but everyone is different and youare strongly advised to plan your own budget
You may also need to budget for ldquoone offrdquo or irregular costsTable 63 contains a representative list
63 Additional Costs
There are some costs that may be incurred by some but not allstudents and are not included within the Tuition Fees Theseare listed in Table 64
64 Student Finance
If you are dealing with agencies like Student Finance pleaseremember to tell them the full duration of your course TheFoundation Year adds an additional year to the BScBEng de-grees and MPhysMEng degrees making them 4-years and 5-years long respectively
UCLanrsquos Student Finance Support Team are available to ad-vise you on any problems and can provide short term emer-gency loans in some cases
17
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 61 Table of items included in Student Fees
Course Additional items included in the tuition fees for yourcourse
Foundation Year for Courses covered by this Hand-book
Compulsory text books (see Chapter 4)
BSc (Hons) Robotics EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering
IET Membership
BSc (Hons) Physics years 1 2 and 3 Frontier Education events
BSc (Hons) Motorsports Engineering years 1 2 and 3 Imech E Student RegistrationFormula Student
MPhys (Hons) AstrophysicsBEng (Hons) Computer Aided EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic EngineeringBSc (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringBSc (Hons) Motorsports EngineeringBSc (Hons) PhysicsBSc (Hons) Robotics Engineering
Compulsory text books in year one
18
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Chapter 5
Frequently Asked Questions
51 Study Time
How much work should I do Courses at UCLan are de-signed with the expectation that students can achieve a suc-cessful result by studying for 10 hours for each credit they needto achieve This includes attendance at UCLan and time spentin private study
Your modules are all worth 20 credits so you should ex-pect to do a minimum of 200 study hours for each of themThat 200-hours contains 3 hours per week of class contacttime (approximately 70 hours) The remaining will be under-taken by you as self-study support work in readiness for theclasses and assessment time The module descriptors (avail-able on eLearn) include an indicative breakdown of how thestudy time may be divided between various activities suchas reviewing lectures trying practice questions and attempt-ing assessments
Do not underestimate the amount of work you need to do toachieve your potential As a rough guide there are about 31weeks in the teaching year (24 in-class weeks 2-3 revisionsweeks amp 4 exam weeks) Six modules at 200 hours per mod-ule equals 1200 hours Spread out over those 31 weeks thisequates to about 39 hours a week ie the same hours as afull time job
Why am I having to work harder do less work than myfriends You may find yourselves having to work harder andput in more hours than some of your friends This is perfectlynatural and is a by-product of your individual experiences
Students who have done either maths or physics A-Levelmdashyou will have sat one or both of these before So even if youdid not get a high grade or only did one of the two you willstill have seen some of this material before That means youmay find yourself having to do less work and put in fewer hoursthan some of your friends Do not become smug There arestill plenty of ways to fail and over-confidence will be the routeto many of them
For a former PhysicsMaths A-Level student the route tosuccess is to use this year productively and to repair problemsthat occurred during your A-Levels Maintain your studies Ifyou slack-off your skills will become unpracticed and you willbe knocked sideways once we get to the really difficult materialin Semester Two
Everybody elsemdashthe disadvantage that you face is that youwill not have seen as much of the material as the former A-Level students Nevertheless some of our best students wereBTEC students who committed themselves from the outsetand ended-up with higher grades than most A-Level students
Ultimately you are trying to learn in one year what it takesmost students two-years to learn The only way for you to suc-ceed is to embrace that challenge
52 Results and Progression
Do I get a separate certificate or qualification for complet-ing the Foundation Year No the Foundation Year is onlythe first year of a longer degree The qualification is that finaldegree certificate
Does the Foundation Year count towards my degreeaward No your average mark for the Foundation Year willonly determine whether you progress to Year One
Will I get a transcript of my results A Transcript lists themodules undertaken credit value and grades achieved duringeach academic session of study The overall result obtainedwill also be indicated You will receive a transcript upon thesuccessful completion of your programme of study
That means you will not automatically receive a paper tran-script at the end of the Foundation Year as your course (thefull degree) has not yet finished Your official module resultsthose accepted by the Assessment Boards will be availableon myUCLan
Please see the Certificates and Awards webpage formore information You may wish to contact Awardcere-moniesuclanacuk if you have a particular need for a papertranscript
I think Irsquom going to fail what should I do We cannot es-cape the unfortunate fact that not every student on this yearwill progress onto Year One of their chosen degree There areacademic standards for progression (the move from one yearof study to the next) that you must meet Failure to meet thosegrades may result in you having to change to a different courseor potentially leave University after only one year
15
5 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Doing well in these skills is merely a measurement of a sin-gle aptitude It is never a measurement of a personrsquos worth ortheir potential in a different field it may just be that your ap-titudes lie elsewhere Struggling against something that youmay not be suited to can in some circumstances lead to anxi-ety and depression
Please do not be frightened in confronting this before theend of the course Your academic adviser can offer guidancethe student support service has a confidential Counseling Ser-vice for anybody feeling overwhelmed and UCLanrsquos careersservices can all help you evaluate the larger picture
16
Chapter 6
Student Finance
In this chapter we look at how your fees will be used and pro-vide guidelines for typical living costs for students in Preston
61 Tuition Fees
Your tuition fees include
bull Scheduled course tuition academic technical and ad-ministrative support use of course equipment and facil-ities
bull Course related induction activities
bull Placement year academic support (where the course in-cludes a placement year)
bull Course assessment and awards
bull Access to the universityrsquos library and online resourcesincluding on-campus wifi networked and remote accessto the universityrsquos virtual learning environment
bull Use of the universityrsquos estate and resources for scheduledactivities and learning support
bull Dissertation project andor thesis printing and bindingwhere the submission of printed and bound documentsis a requirement for assessment of the module
bull Use of the universityrsquos technical equipment and materialsidentified by the course teaching team as essential for thecompletion of the course
bull The extra items listed against your course in Table 61below
62 Living costs
Living costs are not included in your tuition fees You will needto budget for these separately Table 62 includes an indicationof some typical living costs but everyone is different and youare strongly advised to plan your own budget
You may also need to budget for ldquoone offrdquo or irregular costsTable 63 contains a representative list
63 Additional Costs
There are some costs that may be incurred by some but not allstudents and are not included within the Tuition Fees Theseare listed in Table 64
64 Student Finance
If you are dealing with agencies like Student Finance pleaseremember to tell them the full duration of your course TheFoundation Year adds an additional year to the BScBEng de-grees and MPhysMEng degrees making them 4-years and 5-years long respectively
UCLanrsquos Student Finance Support Team are available to ad-vise you on any problems and can provide short term emer-gency loans in some cases
17
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 61 Table of items included in Student Fees
Course Additional items included in the tuition fees for yourcourse
Foundation Year for Courses covered by this Hand-book
Compulsory text books (see Chapter 4)
BSc (Hons) Robotics EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering
IET Membership
BSc (Hons) Physics years 1 2 and 3 Frontier Education events
BSc (Hons) Motorsports Engineering years 1 2 and 3 Imech E Student RegistrationFormula Student
MPhys (Hons) AstrophysicsBEng (Hons) Computer Aided EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic EngineeringBSc (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringBSc (Hons) Motorsports EngineeringBSc (Hons) PhysicsBSc (Hons) Robotics Engineering
Compulsory text books in year one
18
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
5 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Doing well in these skills is merely a measurement of a sin-gle aptitude It is never a measurement of a personrsquos worth ortheir potential in a different field it may just be that your ap-titudes lie elsewhere Struggling against something that youmay not be suited to can in some circumstances lead to anxi-ety and depression
Please do not be frightened in confronting this before theend of the course Your academic adviser can offer guidancethe student support service has a confidential Counseling Ser-vice for anybody feeling overwhelmed and UCLanrsquos careersservices can all help you evaluate the larger picture
16
Chapter 6
Student Finance
In this chapter we look at how your fees will be used and pro-vide guidelines for typical living costs for students in Preston
61 Tuition Fees
Your tuition fees include
bull Scheduled course tuition academic technical and ad-ministrative support use of course equipment and facil-ities
bull Course related induction activities
bull Placement year academic support (where the course in-cludes a placement year)
bull Course assessment and awards
bull Access to the universityrsquos library and online resourcesincluding on-campus wifi networked and remote accessto the universityrsquos virtual learning environment
bull Use of the universityrsquos estate and resources for scheduledactivities and learning support
bull Dissertation project andor thesis printing and bindingwhere the submission of printed and bound documentsis a requirement for assessment of the module
bull Use of the universityrsquos technical equipment and materialsidentified by the course teaching team as essential for thecompletion of the course
bull The extra items listed against your course in Table 61below
62 Living costs
Living costs are not included in your tuition fees You will needto budget for these separately Table 62 includes an indicationof some typical living costs but everyone is different and youare strongly advised to plan your own budget
You may also need to budget for ldquoone offrdquo or irregular costsTable 63 contains a representative list
63 Additional Costs
There are some costs that may be incurred by some but not allstudents and are not included within the Tuition Fees Theseare listed in Table 64
64 Student Finance
If you are dealing with agencies like Student Finance pleaseremember to tell them the full duration of your course TheFoundation Year adds an additional year to the BScBEng de-grees and MPhysMEng degrees making them 4-years and 5-years long respectively
UCLanrsquos Student Finance Support Team are available to ad-vise you on any problems and can provide short term emer-gency loans in some cases
17
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 61 Table of items included in Student Fees
Course Additional items included in the tuition fees for yourcourse
Foundation Year for Courses covered by this Hand-book
Compulsory text books (see Chapter 4)
BSc (Hons) Robotics EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering
IET Membership
BSc (Hons) Physics years 1 2 and 3 Frontier Education events
BSc (Hons) Motorsports Engineering years 1 2 and 3 Imech E Student RegistrationFormula Student
MPhys (Hons) AstrophysicsBEng (Hons) Computer Aided EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic EngineeringBSc (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringBSc (Hons) Motorsports EngineeringBSc (Hons) PhysicsBSc (Hons) Robotics Engineering
Compulsory text books in year one
18
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Chapter 6
Student Finance
In this chapter we look at how your fees will be used and pro-vide guidelines for typical living costs for students in Preston
61 Tuition Fees
Your tuition fees include
bull Scheduled course tuition academic technical and ad-ministrative support use of course equipment and facil-ities
bull Course related induction activities
bull Placement year academic support (where the course in-cludes a placement year)
bull Course assessment and awards
bull Access to the universityrsquos library and online resourcesincluding on-campus wifi networked and remote accessto the universityrsquos virtual learning environment
bull Use of the universityrsquos estate and resources for scheduledactivities and learning support
bull Dissertation project andor thesis printing and bindingwhere the submission of printed and bound documentsis a requirement for assessment of the module
bull Use of the universityrsquos technical equipment and materialsidentified by the course teaching team as essential for thecompletion of the course
bull The extra items listed against your course in Table 61below
62 Living costs
Living costs are not included in your tuition fees You will needto budget for these separately Table 62 includes an indicationof some typical living costs but everyone is different and youare strongly advised to plan your own budget
You may also need to budget for ldquoone offrdquo or irregular costsTable 63 contains a representative list
63 Additional Costs
There are some costs that may be incurred by some but not allstudents and are not included within the Tuition Fees Theseare listed in Table 64
64 Student Finance
If you are dealing with agencies like Student Finance pleaseremember to tell them the full duration of your course TheFoundation Year adds an additional year to the BScBEng de-grees and MPhysMEng degrees making them 4-years and 5-years long respectively
UCLanrsquos Student Finance Support Team are available to ad-vise you on any problems and can provide short term emer-gency loans in some cases
17
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 61 Table of items included in Student Fees
Course Additional items included in the tuition fees for yourcourse
Foundation Year for Courses covered by this Hand-book
Compulsory text books (see Chapter 4)
BSc (Hons) Robotics EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering
IET Membership
BSc (Hons) Physics years 1 2 and 3 Frontier Education events
BSc (Hons) Motorsports Engineering years 1 2 and 3 Imech E Student RegistrationFormula Student
MPhys (Hons) AstrophysicsBEng (Hons) Computer Aided EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic EngineeringBSc (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringBSc (Hons) Motorsports EngineeringBSc (Hons) PhysicsBSc (Hons) Robotics Engineering
Compulsory text books in year one
18
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 61 Table of items included in Student Fees
Course Additional items included in the tuition fees for yourcourse
Foundation Year for Courses covered by this Hand-book
Compulsory text books (see Chapter 4)
BSc (Hons) Robotics EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic Engineering
IET Membership
BSc (Hons) Physics years 1 2 and 3 Frontier Education events
BSc (Hons) Motorsports Engineering years 1 2 and 3 Imech E Student RegistrationFormula Student
MPhys (Hons) AstrophysicsBEng (Hons) Computer Aided EngineeringBSc (Hons) Electronic EngineeringBSc (Hons) Mechanical EngineeringBSc (Hons) Motorsports EngineeringBSc (Hons) PhysicsBSc (Hons) Robotics Engineering
Compulsory text books in year one
18
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
64 Student Finance
Table 62 Table of typical student living expenses
Typical items Estimatedweekly costslower range
Estimatedweekly costshigher range
AccommodationUniversity Halls of Residence based on a 42 week contract
pound7903 pound10783
Private Halls of Residence pound70 pound110
(Living at home may reduce your accommodation costs) (pound0)
Food pound20 pound15
Internet connection(free wifi on campus in university halls of residence and insome private accommodation)
pound0 pound20
ToiletriesLaundry pound5 pound15
Gaselectricitywater(included within university halls of residence costs and someprivate accommodation mdash check your contract)
pound0 pound15
Printing copying stationery pound250 pound10
Travel expenses(varies by method amp distance travelled eg on foot bicyclebus train or car If using bus or train check travel card season ticket rates for savings)University halls of residence and a good selection of privateaccommodation are situated on campus or a short walk fromcampus
pound7 pound40
Mobile phone or landline pound250 pound10
Books pound5 pound10
Leisure pound5 pound25
Total per week pound110 pound282
Total for 42 weeks(typical halls of residence contract)
pound4620 pound11844
Total for 52 weeks pound5720 pound14664
Table 63 Table of one off irregular costs
Typical items Notes
Bedding From pound20
Clothes Costs vary depending on your needs
TV licence pound14550 per year
Insurances Costs vary depending on your needs
Computerlaptoptelephone You will have access to University computers or laptops foryour studies or you may have your own you wish to bring Ifyou are acquiring one to come to university the cost variesdepending on model and whether it is new or refurbished
Furniture crockery etc Furnished accommodation may include all your needsCheck your accommodation to see what is included
19
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
6 STUDENT FINANCE
Table 64 Table of Additional Costs not covered by Tuition Fees
Optional items ndash all courses Estimated costs
Travel to course related work placements work ex-perience voluntary work or site visits (for examplecosts of petrol business level motor insurance covertaxis train fares bus fares etc)
Variable depending on the distance travelled and themethod of transport chosen
Library fines amp charges
Avoid these by returning on time or renewing books
On time pound0000-8 days overdue pound010-050 per day9+ days overdue pound050-100 per day40+ days replacement cost and administrativechargesaccount suspension
Costs of obtaining medical or other evidence to sup-port applications for extenuating circumstance appli-cations relating to assessments
For example a medical certificate may cost from pound10
Fees for arranging and invigilating course examina-tion(s) off campus are payable by the student (Notethis only applies where permitted by course regula-tions and approved by course leaders)
pound300
Printing of electronic books journals etc You arestrongly recommended to access these electroni-cally
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
Printing of reports course materials and other coursedocuments which have been supplied or are avail-able electronically or in hard copy in the library
Estimated pound010 per copy sheet
20
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Part II
Course Operation
21
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Chapter 7
Communication
This chapter covers communication between staff and stu-dents A successful student is one who pays attention to andtakes part in the conversation between themselves and theCourse Team This manifests itself in several different ways -face-to-face in lectures and tutorial online in e-mail and VLEsand collectively with the Student Reps and the Course Team
71 Methods of Communication
It is often necessary for the Course Team to talk to you eitherdirectly or asynchronously It may also be essential for youto contact us (with questions or notifications) It is essentialthat you maintain up to date contact details with the UniversityThese can be managed from your myUCLan profile and viaThe lt i gt in the Library
Methods of communications include
1 In Person
2 By E-Mail
3 By Telephone
4 By Post
5 Via Social Media
6 Over the UCLan Intranet
The contact details for the Course Team are listed in Ta-ble 71 Further contact details for other members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute (JHI including some tutorial tutorsand lab demonstrators) can be found in the JHI Staff Directory
711 In Person
The Course Team have designated offices as listed in Ta-ble 71 They will usually be happy to meet with you in per-son However please realise that staff often have teachingand research duties aside from their work with the FoundationYear That means they may be difficult to find or may ask youto come back at another time Each module leader will be ableto tell you their contact hours upon request
You will occasionally be able to catch staff at the end of lec-tures and tutorials Please be aware that these times are not
Figure 71 Piled Higher and Deeper by Jorge Cham (wwwphdcomicscom Reproduced with permission
always optimal (you are in a rush we are in a rush other stu-dents want to come in and use the room etc) It is alwaysadvisable to send an e-mail afterwards reminding Staff of im-portant matters (ldquoas I mentioned after the lecturerdquo)
712 UCLan e-mail addresses
All staff and students have a University provided e-mail ad-dress The e-mail addresses of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 Your own e-mail address is your lifeline into theUniversity Tutors will use it to distribute alerts about sessionsreminders about assessment and other timely information Itis also where automated time table alerts will be sent warn-ing you about changes to your lectures (cancellations venuechanges etc) The Studentrsquos Union University and AdminHub will also use it to alert you to career events society fairsand other extra-curricular events
The University expects you to use your UCLan email ad-dress and check regularly for messages from staff You shouldaim to check your email DAILY It is also the most efficientway to contact staff We will attempt to reply to your emailwithin 48 hours If you send us email messages from other
23
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
7 COMMUNICATION
Table 71 Table of Course Team contact details Column 1 lists the name of the member of staff and column 2 lists theirFoundation Year duties The third column lists their e-mail address (please remember to add uclanacuk to the end) Column4 lists their UCLan telephone extension (add 01772 89 to the start) Column 5 lists their office location
Staff Name Duties E-Mail Tel Ext Room No
Teaching Team
Paul Freeman PGFreeman 3302 Le 307
Shane OrsquoHehir SO-Hehir 3733 Le 309
Jason Kirk JMKirk 6416 Le 309
Stephen Kirkup SMKirkup 7226 CM 138
Steve McCann mdash mdash mdash mdash-
Academic Management
Ian Butchart Physics Academic Lead IButchart 3565 Le 306
Brett Patterson Physics Course Leader BAPatterson 3567 Le 208
Martin Varley Engineering Academic Lead MRVarley 3272 CM 149
Derek Ward-Thompson Director of the JHI DWard-Thompson 3829 Le 007
Support Staff
Rick Collins Lab Tech RCollins 4315 MB 114
Bob Frost Subject Librarian RSFrost 2261 LIB 308
addresses they risk being filtered out as potential spam anddiscarded unread
When e-mailing staff please remember to use correct En-glish and to format the message correctly (see Figure 71 forreasons why) Use a descriptive subject line If you are e-mailing about a module include the module code in the subjectline of the e-mail This is especially important when e-mailingthe Admin Hub as they deal with students from a wide rangeof courses
It is YOUR responsibility to make sure you can access yourofficial university e-mail Problems with your e-mail should bequeried with LIS Customer Support Their telephone numberis 01772 895355 or you can find them in the Library
Details on how to set-up your phone iOS or Android deviceto work with your UCLan e-mail can be found under the LISGuides amp Forms web-pagehttpswwwuclanacukstudentsfaqGuides
20amp20FormsFailure to keep abreast of your e-mail can result in you miss-
ing out on changes to assignment deadlines personalisedexam provision and enhanced study opportunities
713 Telephone
The Course Team Student Support staff or the Admin Hubmay contact you by phone (land line or mobile) or text yourmobile when it has not been possible to communicate withyou via other routes Text messages will also be used in ex-ceptional circumstances when we need to rapidly warn you ofchanges or cancellation to important events
Please be aware that telephone calls from most UCLanextensions will show as unknown number or number with-held on most mobiles
The telephone extensions of the Course Team are listedin Table 71 These can be dialled externally by pre-pending01772 89 to the start of the telephone extension
714 Post
We may communicate with you by letter to request that youmake an appointment to see an academic staff member (egto discuss attendance issues) This will also be the route oflast resort if we cannot contact you via any other means
The postal address of the University is
Foster Hub
University of Central Lancashire
Preston
Lancashire
PR1 2HEPlease make sure that any mail sent to the University clearly
shows the intended staff memberrsquos name and their affiliatedSchool
715 Social Media
There are a number of twitter accounts and Facebook pagesrun by the School of Physical Sciences and Computing and
24
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
73 Course Representatives and School Presidents
the School of Engineering that you may want to follow Theseinclude
bull UCLan_CEPS ndash The feed of the School of ComputingEngineering and Physical Sciences
bull UCLAN_JHI ndash The news feed of the Jeremiah HorrocksInstitute promoting Physics Astrophysics and Mathemat-ics research teaching and outreach
bull UCLanMaths ndash Promoting Mathematics and ldquogeneralchatterrdquo
bull AlstonObsy ndash News and information about UCLanrsquos un-dergraduate astronomy teaching and outreach Observa-tory
bull Lancsscifest ndash Official Twitter feed of the LancashireScience Festival
bull UCLanPhysSoc ndash the Twitter feed of the UCLan under-graduate Physics Society
Some staff and students have a public online presence (egTwitter LinkedIn etc) which they use to help promote outreachand the public understanding of science (and cat pictures)For reasons of confidentiality it is generally not appropriate forthose channels to be used for student support Please usedirect UCLan e-mail (see above) instead
Please do not be offended if a member of staff does not re-spond to a friend-request or similar request for contact outsideof the usual University system
716 Intranet
UCLan has a number of different websites that provide infor-mation for students The public facing website wwwuclanacuk contains information about courses regulations and gen-eral procedures Confidential student information is help ontwo additional Intranet sites
myUCLan The httpsmyuclanacuk website is the in-terface to the Universityrsquos administrative divisions Thiscontains details of your module enrolments (and finalgrades) and is where you can make applications for ex-tenuating circumstances
eLearn Blackboard The httpsportaluclanacuksite is a repository of academic materials used forteaching and student supportThe BlackboardeLearnsystem allows us to disseminate module and coursedocumentation via a single unified system Access toBlackboard is a vital part of your learning experienceMaterials provided there will vary from lecture to lecturebut can include teaching plans lecture slides andassignment details
72 The Student Voice
You can play an important part in the process of improving thequality of this course through the feedback you give In additionto the on-going discussion with the Course Team throughoutthe year there are a range of mechanisms for you to feedback
about your experience of teaching and learning We aim torespond to your feedback and let you know of our plans forimprovement
We take Student Feedback seriously and elements of yourcourse this year will be influenced by feedback from last yearsFoundation Year students
bull Last year we predominantly used 3-hour long exams atthe end of the final semester Students commented onthe amount of material they were having to remember Inresponse we switched to one-and-a-half hour long examsat the end of each semester (same total exam time justsplit into two)
bull The use of WileyPlus for Physics homework on the mod-ules APC801-3 was appreciated by students while theprevious Maths textbook was underused In response wehave adopted a new WileyPlus Mathematics package foruse with the modules APC804-6 We look forward youyour comments on how successful this adoption is
The Students Union can support you in voicing your opin-ion provide on-going advice and support and encourage yourinvolvement in all feedback opportunities They will be re-questing that you complete the National Student Survey (dur-ing semester 2 for students in their final year of study) or theUCLan Student Survey (all other students)
The Studentsrsquo Union and University work closely together toensure that the student voice is heard in all matters of student-life We encourage students to provide constructive feedbackthroughout their time at university through course reps sur-veys and any other appropriate means
The Unionrsquos Student Affairs Committee (SAC) members ofStudentsrsquo Council and School Presidents each have particularrepresentative responsibilities and are involved with decisionmaking committees as high as the University Board There-fore it is very important students engage with the democraticprocesses of the Studentsrsquo Union and elect the students theysee as most able to represent them
You will be able to voice your opinion via a number of dif-ferent channels We hope that you feel able to bring mattersto staff in person but if not the Course Reps (see below) canraise your concerns at the Staff-Student Liaison CommitteeYou will also be able to feedback opinion via the anonymousModule Evaluation Questionnaires
73 Course Representatives and SchoolPresidents
A course representative is a student who represents their fel-low studentsrsquo views and opinions to the course team schooluniversity and studentsrsquo union Course representatives workpro-actively and diplomatically to improve the academic andnon-academic experiences of students
The role of a course representative is extremely beneficialto both students on your course and the university It enablesstudents to have ownership of their student experience andvoice their opinions and share positive practice with the courseteam primarily the Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(see below)
25
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
7 COMMUNICATION
Course representatives will be elected every year either inApril or September Alongside receiving recognition supportand respect being a course representative is a great opportu-nity to enhance your employability skills If you are interestedin becoming a course representative and wish to find out moreabout the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or by emailingcourserepsuclanacuk
School Presidents meanwhile are annually elected repre-sentatives who voice the opinions of students within eachschool They communicate and engage with students in theirschool to gain feedback and work in partnership with se-nior management to create positive change They are alsotrained to support and signpost course representatives whereneeded If you wish to find out who is your School President ormore about the role visit the Studentsrsquo Union website or emailcourserepsuclanacuk
74 Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings(SSLC)
The purpose of a SSLC meeting is to provide the opportu-nity for course representatives to feedback to staff about thecourse the overall student experience and to inform develop-ments which will improve future courses These meetings arenormally scheduled once per semester
Your Course Leader will facilitate the meetings using guide-lines and provide a record of the meeting with any decisionsand or responses made and or actions taken as a resultof the discussions held The meetings include discussion ofitems forwarded by course representatives normally relatedto the following agenda items (dependent on time of year)
The course team encourage student feedback in all areasand recognise that additional items for discussion may also beraised at the meeting
bull Update on actions completed since the last meeting
bull Feedback about the previous year ndash discussion of exter-nal examinerrsquos report outcomes of National UCLan stu-dent surveys
bull Review of enrolment induction experience
bull Course organisation and management (from each individ-ual year group and the course overall)
bull Experience of modules - teaching assessment feed-back
bull Experience of academic support which may include egPersonal Development Planning academic adviser ar-rangements and The Card
bull Other aspects of University life relevant to student experi-ence eg learning resources IT library
bull Any other issues raised by students or staff
SSLC Meetings occur once a Semester and are followed upby Course Team Meetings where issues raised are discussedand followed up by staff In the past many improvements tomodules and programme structure have been the direct result
of student feedback and staff value student opinion and (con-structive) criticism Both the Course Committee and CourseTeam Meetings have formal minutes and form part of the qual-ity assurance procedure for the School
Students will be made aware of the SSLC scheduled meet-ings via email and eLearn where agenda and minutes of previ-ous minutes are stored Reminders will be sent to all studentsseveral days before the meeting to urge students to liaise withstudent representative
75 Complaints
The University recognises that there may be occasions whenyou have cause for complaint about the service you have re-ceived when this happens the complaints procedure is in-tended to provide an accessible fair and straightforward sys-tem which ensures as effective prompt and appropriate re-sponse Click on this link for more information Complaints Pro-cedure
26
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Chapter 8
Teaching
In this chapter we take a look at the material that you will belearning this year (the Learning Outcomes) the teaching meth-ods we use at UCLan and other teaching details not directlyrelated to assessment (see Chapter 9 for details on that)
Specific details for each module can be found in documentscalled Module Descriptors These are 3ndash4 page documentsthat set out the aims content assessment strategy and learn-ing outcomes for the material to be taught in each moduleYou will find the canonical version of each modulersquos ModuleDescriptor linked to from the ldquoModule Informationrdquo areas ineLearn Blackboard
81 Expertise of Staff
The staff who deliver the courses are members of theJeremiah Horrocks Institute within the School of Physical Sci-ences and Computing The vast majority hold PhDs and areactive researchers in a number of areas of physics and astro-physics Details of their research interests and recent publica-tions can be found by exploring the research pages of the JHIwebsite (httpstaruclanacuk)
82 Teaching Methods
Learning Outcomes are a series of broad targets that arespecified in each modulersquos Module Descriptor Individual tu-tors may also specify learning outcomes for individual topicsor blocks of material Outcomes name a specific skill or taskthat students should be able to do if they pass that modulewith a reasonable grade Take note of these as your examsand assignments are meant to explicitly test them
We use a wide variety of teaching and learning methodswithin the School in order to help you reach the defined Learn-ing Outcomes These methods include
Lectures are used to deliver information and knowledge Youmay be asked to read around the subject in readiness fora particular class
Tutorials are used to allow you to test out your knowledgeunderstanding and application of that knowledge Youmay be asked to present information or findings to yourpeers and staff in a variety of formats including electronic
Practicals are used to allow you to develop experimentalskills and consolidate the theory you have learned in lec-tures with practical experience
In addition Expert (guest) lectures or seminars are used toprovide you with the opportunity to hear internal and externalspeakers with industrial commercial or research experienceThis enables you to gain appreciation of career opportunitiesin your area
Your module tutors will often require you to read and studymaterials prior to coming to class This will enable you to getthe most out of a lecture and is absolutely essential to preparefor a tutorial or seminar
83 Lectures
A lecture is what most people think about then they imagineUniversity based learning mdash a hall of students listening intentlywhile an expert on the field tells them chapter and verse abouta particular subject However this belies the true purpose ofthe modern lecture
There is no time in a lecture mdash even the 2 hour lectureswe use mdash to completely cover every iota of material in a sin-gle topic Instead the lecture is meant to be a guided tour tothe topic The lecturer will indeed cover the basics and mostsalient points but the real gold what you are actually there foris the context that they add to the information
The lecturer a live person delivering material directly to youwill be able to stress what parts are really important They cantell you where the pit fall are make connections that are notimmediately obvious and relate the material being presentedto wider issues
Please see the Study Guide Section about ldquoGetting the MostOut of Lecturesrdquo for more details
84 Tutorials
Lectures can sometimes be a little impersonal as there is 1lecturer and 100 or more students The lecturer will have littletime to spend on each question asked but will endeavour todo their best
Tutorials are the flip side of thatndash
27
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
8 TEACHING
Table 81 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Physics modules APC801 802 and 803 On the completion of these modulesa successful student will be able do
APC801 Introduction to UniversityPhysics
APC802 Motion Forces and ForceFields
APC803 The Road to Quantum Me-chanics
List and identify core SI units theirdimensions and use in simple prob-lems
Identify resolve and evaluate at level3 the forces involved in simple dynam-ical interactions
Draw and solve for each change in di-rection that a light ray makes in simpleoptical examples
Draw construct and interpret electri-cal circuits at level 3
Express the momentum moment andenergy of moving objects and identifywhen those quantities are conserved
Describe and explain simple wave-likephenomena at Level 3 Identity andevaluate the path difference between2 waves undergoing superposition
Distinguish between the different cir-cuit components explain the physicalprinciples behind them and evaluatetheir response to a voltage or current
Describe and evaluate the course ofa point mass through a gravitationalfield
Explain the arrangement ofatomsmolecules in a particularmaterial (amorphouscrystallinesolids ideal fluids etc) and how thatarrangement changes in response toa macroscopic change (in tempera-ture phase or deformation) in thematerial
Conduct simple physics experimentsrecord results from those experimentsand present their results in a writtenandor oral form
Describe and evaluate the course of acharged particle through uniform elec-tric andor magnetic field
List and distinguish between the dif-ferent atomic models (ThompsonRutherford and Bohr) the compo-nents of the atom and types of radi-ation
mdash Evaluate the strength of a gravita-tional magnetic or electric field at apoint and draw the field linespatternsin simple examples
List describe draw and solveproblems at Level 3 based onkey experiments (photo-electriceffect blackbody spectra mass-spectrometer etc) in the developmentof quantum mechanics The studentswill also be able to explain howthose experiments progressed ourunderstanding of physics
bull the tutor to student ratio is close to 130 (more like a class-room)
bull the atmosphere is more informal (although most of therules about behaving still apply) and
bull the tutorials are far more about the conversation betweentutor and students
Tutorials sessions are generally timetabled 1 to 2 days af-ter a lecture Time enough for you to have consolidated yournotes cogitated the meaning of the material presented to youand made a first stab at attempting any study or exercise ques-tions given out in the lecture
You should come to tutorials with things you want to do mdashproblems you are stuck on questions you would like to asktopics you would like clarified Prepare for a tutorial and youwill be rewarded
Even if you have nothing to ask time in tutorials will not bewasted Tutors will have things the main Lecturer will haveasked them to cover This may be reinforcing particular points
from the lecture demonstrating particular examples and get-ting you to work through exercises under supervision
85 Teaching Spaces
The Foundation Year is taught at UCLanrsquos Preston CityCampus You can find a map of the campus online athttpswwwuclanacukvisitassetspreston_city_campus_mappdf
Most teaching venues for this Course can be found in theHarris Site Blue Zone on the map The Physics and Math-ematics staff of the Jeremiah Horrockrsquos Institute are basedin Leighton Building (building code LE) Practicals will makeuse of the Laboratory spaces in and around the Leighton siteEngineering staff teaching on the Course are based in theComputing and Technology Building (building code CM in theGreen Zone)
Lectures with the whole cohort will probably be held in theFoster Lecture Theatres (FBLT followed by a number) Youcannot access these directly from the Foster Canteen Admin
28
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
87 Learning Information Services
Table 82 Table of Learning Outcomes for the Maths modules APC804 805 and 806 On the completion of these modules asuccessful student will be able do
APC804 Mathematical Methods APC805 Further MathematicalMethods
APC806 Graphs and Vectors
Recall and Apply basic trigonometricalnotation and concepts to solve appliedmathematical problems
Apply relevant notation and basicideas of mathematical proof to solveproblems
Understand function notation and beable to sketch the graphs of functions
Recall the properties of exponentialsand the laws of logarithms and applythem to mathematical problems
Manipulate algebraic inequalities andapply the modulus function to tacklemathematical problems
Modify equations to transform thegraphs of functions
Describe and apply complex numbersin Cartesian and polar form
Solve mathematical problems involv-ing sequences binomial theorem andbinomial expansions
Solve equations numerically and usethe Trapezium and Simpsons rules toestimate the value of a definite inte-gral
Apply techniques of matrices to solvemathematical problems
Apply techniques of remainders andpartial fraction to solve mathematicalproblems
Recall and describe the domain andrange of a function and be able to formthe inverse of a function
Recall and apply basic techniquesof differentiationintegration to solvemathematical and problems
Recall and apply techniques of inte-grationdifferentiation to solve mathe-matical and problems
Recall and describe a vector and ap-ply the rules for addition and scalarand vector multiplication
mdash Construct and describe physical sys-tems in terms of differential equations
mdash
Hub part of the Foster Building You will have to go out of themain doors and follow the path around the side of the MedicalCentre
Tutorials are more widely distributed across campus owingto the need to use multiple rooms These may make use ofrooms in Leighton Maudland (building code MB) Harris (build-ing code HB) and Livesay House (building code LH) Maud-land is one of the buildings directly next to Leighton HarrisBuilding is the original brick part of the University dating fromwhen we were Harris College Please note that Livesay Houseis detached from the rest of the campus and will take slightlylonger to get to
The exact rooms will be listed in your online time tables
86 Study Support
A wide range of diagnostic help and advice is available fromWISER the Universityrsquos Skills Learning Resources OnLineYou will be introduced to this website during Welcome WeekDuring the year there will also be a series of seminars includ-ing tailored WISER workshops on topics such as exam revi-sion and preparation Individuals are also referred to WISERby their Academic Advisers if there is need
87 Learning Information Services
Learning Information Services (LIS) is the Service that runsUCLanrsquos website computer network library and specialisedteaching resources (eg labs) An introduction to LIS facilities
is provided during Welcome Week There is also a library tourbooked for the group during Welcome Week Seminars will beprovided from time to time on subject-specific resources TheLibrary is open 247 during Semester time
LIS has appointed a Librarian called Bob Frost as a subjectspecific liaison
871 Learning Resources
LIS library and IT staff have made extensive resources whichare available you to support your studies Take advantage ofthe free training sessions designed to enable you to gain allthe skills you need for your research and study
872 Electronic Resources
LIS provide access to a huge range of electronic resources mdashe-journals and databases e-books images and texts As theybecome available staff often will direct you to other electronicresources to better help support your learning
Please see the Study Guide section on ldquoOnline Trainingrdquo formore information
29
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Chapter 9
Assessment
In this chapter we look at the assessment methods usedacross the Foundation Year Please note that all modules willbe assessed You are expected to attempt all required assess-ments for each module for which you are registered and to doso at the times scheduled unless authorised extensions spe-cial arrangements for disability or extenuating circumstancesallow you to defer your assessment Details of those pro-cesses are included at the end of this chapter
91 Assessment Principles
Assessment on each module is based upon two separate prin-ciples (often applied at the same time) The first use of assess-ment is called summative It is the most obvious reason fordoing assessment as a direct evaluation of your learning Asdescribed in the Assessment Handbook assessment is usedto provide students with an opportunity to ldquodemonstrate thatthey have fulfilled the learning outcomesrdquo of the course
The second use of assessment is called formative and isthe use of assessment as an aid to learning itself This is mostrelevant to assessment that is conducted during the teachingphase of a module This style of assessment is used to mea-sure a studentrsquos progresses with the aim of offering necessaryfeedback that the student can use to enhance or correct theirpractise
92 Assessment Methods
The assessment methods for each module are listed in the in-dividual Module Descriptors These methods of assessmenthave been designed to test all the learning outcomes The De-scriptors also list the weight of each assessment method ndash howmuch of that modulersquos mark comes from that assessment Topass a module the total grade summed across all assessmentmethods must be greater than or equal to 40
There are a variety of assessment methods These include
Laboratory Practicals Part of your Laboratory training will beto keep and maintain written notes on your experimentsIn the Foundation Year this is done via worksheets thatmust be completed alongside the experiment during classtime These constitute a form of continuous assessmentas you will be graded on each weekrsquos noteswork The
weekly marks will be aggregated into an overall mark foryour in-laboratory work
Presentations At the end of your time in the Laboratory youwill be asked to complete a presentation based on one ofyour experiments These assessments will be structuredlike assignments but usually require more hours and willcumulate in a distinct piece of work The format maychange but one example would be asking you to writea scientific poster based on one of your experiments
Formal Examinations The majority of your assessment(60 of lecture based modules) will be weighted towardsformal examinations at the end of each semester Theseare 15 to 2 hr exams where each student works in si-lence at a separate desk on an exam paper that they havenot previously seen Some students excel in exams whileothers find them very stressful Students who struggleshould pay particular attention to exam techniques ses-sions and mock exams when they are offered
Continuous Assessment This describes any continuing as-sessment that is done in support of the learning processThese are usually discrete pieces of coursework that areassigned during a lecture but are completed during thestudentrsquos own study time These may range from regu-lar automatically-graded homework exercises (eg Wi-leyPlus) electronically submitted files (eg TurnItIn) orpaper-based problems Most assignments on this coursewill be centred on mathematicalphysical problems takenfrom the material that has just been taught Assignmentsfavour students who do not have a lot of experience oranxiety with formal examinations
Class Tests These are short exam-like tests that are con-ducted within the normal teaching time table Their scopeis usually limited to a particular section of academic ma-terial
93 Notification of Assignments andExamination Arrangements
You will be provided with an Assessment Schedule at the be-ginning of the academic year to allow you to manage your time
31
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
9 ASSESSMENT
The assessment schedule is made available through Black-board and on your Noticeboard on the second floor of LeightonBuilding
An examination timetable will be made available to you priorto the examination periods on the University website For moststudents this will appear in your normal Time Table Studentswith Personalised Exam Provision are usually e-mailed in theweeks preceding exams to notify them of their specific ar-rangements
Assessment of modules typically involves the submission ofcoursework during the year and an end of module examina-tion For each assignment the Assignment Specification in-forms you how and when the work is to be submitted Do notregard the hand-in date as the target date for completing thework Instead complete the coursework before the hand-indate to allow a lsquomargin of safetyrsquo in case of technical prob-lems Coursework is usually submitted to lsquoassignment boxesrsquolocated in your home building Be sure to sign and attach anlsquoAssignment Submission Formrsquo Ensure you keep a copy ofyour work
If directed by your module tutor you may be requested tosubmit your coursework via eLearn Blackboard WileyPlus oranother web-service
Unless the coursework explicitly states that you may workin groups you must assume that anything you may submit forassessment to be entirely your own work with material youhave consulted properly referenced This is not intended tostop you discussing in general terms how to tackle problemsbut you must demonstrate individually that you understand thework and can solve the details of the problem yourself You willbe made aware of the marking criteria prior the assessmentwithin the assignment brief
By submitting your work ndash either on paper or electroni-cally ndash you explicitly confirm that it your own work
94 Feedback
UCLan is committed to giving you clear legible and informativefeedback for all your assessments (Academic Regulations)You will be provided with generic feedback for in-module for-mative and summative elements of assessment which con-tribute to a module within 15 working days of the scheduledsubmission or examination date Generic feedback on end ofmodule assessment and dissertations will be made availablewithin 15 days of publication of results
Feedback may be delivered in a number of different ways Ifyour assignment is submitted via WileyPlus you will get instantfeedback as to whether your answer was right or wrong Afterthe deadline has elapsed some Module Tutors may make thesolutions visible on WileyPlus this would constitute genericfeedback If your tutor spots a particular mistake they mayleave personalised feedback
If your assignment was submitted on paper then you willhave had to attach an Assignment coversheet to it The mod-ule tutor will mark your grade on the sheet and complete a boxthat contains personalised written feedback They will also in-dicate on your assignment where and why you lost marks
You are expected to review and reflect on your feedback andlearn from each experience to improve your performance asyou progress though the course You should look at where you
are losing marks and come up with a plan on how to addressthat (eg marks lost for poor formatting areas of study youhave not yet mastered etc)
95 Extensions and late submissions
Each assignment brief will include a clearly defined deadlineIt is expected that all work will be submitted prior to this dead-line If you anticipate that you will have difficulty in meetingassessment deadlines or that you will miss a class test youshould report this to the relevant Module Leader at the firstavailable opportunity
If the situation is isolated and is anticipated before the as-sessment deadline then it will most probably require an ex-tension resulting in extra time being given to complete theassignment If the situation is more serious then it may bemore appropriate to consider an application for extenuatingcircumstances (see next section)
951 Late Submissions
If you submit work late and unauthorised a universal penaltywill be applied in relation to your work
bull If you submit work within 5 working days following thepublished submission date you will obtain the minimumpass mark for that element of assessment (usually 40)
bull Work submitted later than 5 working days after the pub-lished submission date will be awarded a mark of 0 forthat element of assessment
Unauthorised late submission at resubmission will automati-cally be awarded a mark of 0 for that element of assessment
952 Extensions
Authorisation of the late submission of work requires writ-ten permission Your School is authorised to give permis-sion for one extension period of between 1 and 10 workingdays where appropriate evidence of good reason has been ac-cepted and where submission within this time-scale would bereasonable taking into account your circumstances (AcademicRegulations)
You should complete and submit an extension request formwith any supporting evidence to your Admin Hub via thededicated Fosterhubuclanacuk e-mail address Furtherinformation is available on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
We aim to let you know if the extension has been grantedwithin 1 working day of the receipt of the request If you areunable to submit work within 10 working days after the submis-sion date due to verifiable extenuating circumstances you maysubmit a case for consideration in accordance with the Univer-sityrsquos Policies and Procedures on Extenuating Circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
32
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
97 Classification of Awards
953 Reassessment
If you fail one or more modules the Module and ProgrammeAssessment Boards (see below) in mid-June will decidewhether you will be offered reassessment Please note thatit may not be possible to reassess practical work (such as inlaboratories or the project) so you should make every effort topass these modules at the first attempt The Board will usuallyonly offer reassessment where they believe that will lead to apositive academic outcome for the student
Reassessment will be offered in the relevant failed or lowscoring component of each module This may be a resit exammodel answers to exam or courseworks as decided by theassessment board The reassessed mark will replace thefailed component to obtain the composite module mark If af-ter reassessment you still have not passed the module theReassessment Board in September may allow you to repeatfailed modules the following year
You will be notified of the required reassessment shortlyafter University Results day in late June Resit exams forSemester 1 normally take place during the May exam periodand resit exams for Semester 2 normally take place during theuniversityrsquos reassessment week in late August (check the Aca-demic Calendar for exact dates) This is also the approximatedeadline for submission of reassessed coursework
It is your responsibility to make yourself available for re-assessment if required Having booked a holiday abroad isnot an acceptable reason for not being available for reassess-ment in August Some university activities (such as the Uni-versity International Travel Bursary Scheme and Research In-ternships ERASMUS exchanges) require participants to havelsquogood academic standingrsquo Having outstanding reassessmentwould normally preclude you from taking part
Reassessment results are released on Reassessment Re-sults Day in the first week of September Only at this stage willyou be able to make final arrangements about your studentloan and other logistics for the next year
96 Quality Assurance
UCLan takes very seriously the vetting and checking of all as-sessment This is done ldquoin houserdquo by our own internal moder-ation and externally via the use of an ldquoexternal examinerrdquo
961 Internal Moderation
The University has a policy that each Assignment amp Exam ismoderated by a staff member other than the Module Leaderbefore it is assigned to the students If an assignment ismarked by multiple tutors the Module Leader will be respon-sible for making sure that their marking is consistent
After an assignment has been marked the Moderator willselect a set of scripts (10 or 3 which ever is greater) fromacross the range of marks The moderator will re-mark thosescripts and then discuss any variance between their marks andthe tutorrsquos original marks The grades that a student eventuallyreceive will be the ones that are agreed between the Moderatorand Module Leader
Usually the Module Leader will use red ink to mark while theModerator will use green ink Formal examinations are marked
anonymously but the same moderation process applies Anelectronic copy of all moderated work is kept for quality assur-ance purposes
962 External Examiner
The University has appointed an External Examiner to yourcourse who helps to ensure that the standards of your courseare comparable to those provided at other higher educationinstitutions in the UK
The name of this person their position and home institutioncan be found below If you wish to make contact with yourExternal Examiner you should do this through your CourseLeader and not directly External Examiner reports will bemade available to you electronically via the School area oneLearn Blackboard
Physics Prof Gail McConnellProfessor of Biophotonics Centre for Biophotonics Uni-versity of Strathclyde
The School will also send a sample of student courseworkto the external examiner(s) for external moderation purposesonce it has been marked and internally moderated by thecourse tutors The sample will include work awarded the high-est and lowest marks and awarded marks in the middle range
97 Classification of Awards
The University publishes the principles underpinning the wayin which awards and results are decided in Academic Regula-tions Decisions about the overall classification of awards aremade by Assessment Boards through the application of theacademic and relevant course regulations
Academic Boards meet at the end of each semester to re-view and confirm the results of modules that have finished inthe previous semester These Boards are made up of theCourse Team plus the relevant Course and Academic Leads
971 Roles of the Boards
The Module Board will usually meet several weeks after theexam period It reviews the operation of each module anddecides collectively whether to accept the grades from eachmodule
The CourseProgramme Board meet a week after theSemester 2 Module Board to review the academic profiles ofall students The performance of each student is reviewed andthe Board decides on the best academic outcome for them(taking into account any submitted ECs)
It is the Course Board that ultimately recommends a studentfor progression and whether to offer reassessment or not Forborderline cases the Board will take into account the studentrsquoshistory of attendance and their engagement with the course
972 Appeals Against Assessment BoardDecisions
If you consider that you have a reason to appeal against an as-sessment board decision please bear in mind that your rea-sons must fall within the grounds specified in the University
33
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
9 ASSESSMENT
Academic Regulations Section I You cannot appeal simplybecause you disagree with the mark given
The specified grounds for appeal are
1 that an Assessment Board has given insufficient weightto extenuating circumstances
2 that the studentrsquos academic performance has been ad-versely affected by extenuating circumstances which thestudent has for good reason been unable to make knownto the Assessment Board
3 that there has been a material administrative error at astage of the examining process or that some material ir-regularities have occurred
4 that the assessment procedure andor examinations havenot been conducted in accordance with the approved reg-ulations
If you want to appeal then you must do so within 14 days ofyour results being published The onus is on you to find outyour results and submit your appeal on time Contact the Stu-dentsrsquo Union Advice and Representation Centre by emailingsuadviceuclanacuk for support and guidance
98 Extenuating Circumstances
Some students face significant events in their personal life thatoccur after their course has started which have a greater im-pact on their students than can be solved by the use of anextension If this applies to you the University is ready tosupport you both with regard to your course and your per-sonal well-being through a process called Extenuating Circum-stances (Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook)
981 What is covered
Normally extenuating circumstances will relate to a change inyour circumstances since you commenced your course whichhave had a significant adverse effect on your studies Every-day occurrences such as colds or known conditions such ashay-fever will not qualify unless the effects are unusually se-vere and this is corroborated by a medical note
Circumstances may include but are not limited to
bull Significant illness or injury to self
bull Death or significant illness of a close family mem-berdependant
bull Family crisis or major financial problems leading to acutestress
bull Absence due to jury service or maternity paternity oradoption leave
bull Victim of crime
bull Work commitments (in rare cases)
The University does not look sympathetically on absencesor delays caused by holiday commitments or by work commit-ments in the case of full-time students The normal work com-mitments of part-time students would not constitute an exten-uating circumstance A disability or learning difficulty does notconstitute an extenuating circumstance (see Academic Regu-lations)
982 How to apply
You can apply for extenuating circumstances online via myU-CLan You must apply no later than 3 days after any exami-nation or assessment submission date Do not wait until youreceive your assessment results to submit a claim It is in yourown interests to submit the claim as soon as possible
You will be expected to re-submit claims for extenuating cir-cumstances for each semester
In determining assessment recommendations AssessmentBoards will consider properly submitted claims from studentswho believe their performance has been adversely affected byextenuating circumstances
At the studentrsquos choice applications for extenuating circum-stances can be confidential even from the course team Allapplications are handled by Extenuating Circumstances leadwithin the School management with decisions on successfulapplications being communicated to the Course Team by theAdmin Hub
How the outcome is acted upon
Assessment Boards are not permitted to alter individual as-sessment marks to take account of extenuating circumstances(Academic Regulations and Assessment Handbook) Whatthe EC does allow us to do is to be flexible in terms ofrescheduling assessment allowing reassessment and in ex-ceptional circumstances allowing students to resit the year
Further information on the submissions process anddeadlines are posted on the Student Portal at httpswwwuclanacukstudentsstudyexaminations_and_awardsextenuating_circumstancesphp
99 Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
PEP Arrangements are made for students who have a disabil-itylearning difficulty for which valid supporting evidence canbe made available Please contact the Disability Adviser foradvice and information disabilityuclanacuk
The Course Team and Examinations Service will act on in-formation from the Disability Adviser and will provide additionaltime or other measures as requested However we do notknow to do this unless you have engaged with the DisabilityAssessment
It is in your interests to get this sorted early in the FirstSemester and not leave it until the Exams actually arrive
34
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
910 Cheating plagiarism collusion orre-presentation
You are required to sign a declaration indicating that individualwork submitted for an assessment is your own
If you attempt to influence the standard of the award youobtain through cheating plagiarism or collusion it will be con-sidered as a serious academic and disciplinary offence as de-scribed within the Academic Regulations and the AssessmentHandbook
bull Cheating is any deliberate attempt to deceive and coversa range of offences described in the Assessment Hand-book
bull Plagiarism describes copying from the works of anotherperson without suitably attributing the published or unpub-lished works of others This means that all quotes ideasopinions music and images should be acknowledged andreferenced within your assignments
bull Collusion is an attempt to deceive the examiners by dis-guising the true authorship of an assignment by copyingor imitating in close detail another studentrsquos work - thisincludes with the other studentrsquos consent and also when2 or more students divide the elements of an assignmentamongst themselves and copy one anotherrsquos answers Itdoes not include the normal situation in which you learnfrom your peers and share ideas as this generates theknowledge and understanding necessary for each indi-vidual to independently undertake an assignment norshould it be confused with group work on an assignmentwhich is specifically authorised in the assignment brief
bull Re-presentation is an attempt to gain credit twice for thesame piece of work
The process of investigation and penalties which will be ap-plied can be reviewed in the Assessment Handbook If an al-legation is found to be proven then the appropriate penalty willbe implemented
In the case of a single offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation
bull the penalty will be 0 for the element of assessment andan overall fail for the module
bull the plagiarised element of assessment must be resubmit-ted to the required standard and the mark for the modulefollowing resubmission will be restricted to the minimumpass mark
bull when it is detected for the first time on a resubmission foran already failed module no further resubmission for themodule will be permitted and the appropriate fail gradewill be awarded
In the event of a repeat offence of cheating plagiarism col-lusion or re-presentation (irrespective of whether the repeatoffence involves the same form of unfair means) on the sameor any other module within the course
bull the appropriate penalty will be 0 for the module withno opportunity for re-assessment This penalty does notpreclude you being able to retake the module in a subse-quent year
The penalties will apply if you transfer from one UCLan courseto another during your period of study and module creditsgained on the former course are transferred to the currentcourse
Contact the Studentsrsquo Union Advice and RepresentationCentre by emailing suadviceuclanacuk for support andguidance
35
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Chapter 10
Attendance and Engagement
101 Attendance is Important
Attendance is compulsory for all events on your time table un-less you have otherwise been told so by the responsible Mod-ule Leader The actual reasons attendance is compulsory andwhy we monitor it so closely are straight forward but may notat first be obvious They include
1 A pattern of poor attendance can be due to an underly-ing problem that may need to be addressed (financialpersonal welfare or otherwise) - it is a classic warningsign We know for certain that some of the problems stu-dents encounter during the start of term could have beenalleviated if they had come to their tutors sooner Thusattendance will be used more strongly as guide of who weneed to focus our concerns upon
2 Attendance generally correlates with a studentsrsquo en-gagement with the course Students who are not en-gaging - even those who are academically strong - runthe risk of simply drifting away from a pattern of work Adegree is a statement to an employer that a person cancomplete a program of work The University cannot ingood faith make that statement by awarding a degree ifthe studentrsquos attendance is unreliable
3 For international students the University has respon-sibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA) PointsBased System (PBS) mdash you MUST attend your courseof study regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tellUKBA if you withdraw from a course defer or suspendyour studies or if you fail to attend the course regularly
4 The University is funded by your Student Fees and othertop-up funding streams from central government Themoney for these are based on the number of studentsenrolled Your attendance is part of the audit for that Itwould be wrong for us to claim funding for students whoare not attending so we are careful to remove (withdraw)students who stop attending
5 Finally and most importantly attendance correlates withacademic achievement Attendance in lectures is im-portant as they are about us your lecturers being able toadd value to what you can read in text books and online Atext book wonrsquot tell you the full story it cannot be quizzed
on reasons why it wonrsquot point out why some material ismore important or show you the unobvious connections
University regulations state that we the teaching team have aresponsibility to monitor studentsrsquo attendance and report backto the Course Leader
102 Student Attendance Monitoring
UCLan uses an electronic Student Attendance Monitoring Sys-tem (called SAM) to monitor your attendance Each teachingvenue has an entry scanner and display screen outside of thedoor You will find instructions (similar to those below) on everyscanner
Upon arrival check that the venue is correct on the displayscreen Then if it is showing Scan Open follow the dis-played instructions to swipe your UCLan card over the scan-ner Check for the requisite number of beepslights and thenproceed into the lesson You will find that this becomes secondnature after a relatively short time
It is your responsibility to make sure that you have yourUCLan ID with you during all lessons and that you use it toscan in Fraudulently scanning for somebody else or gettingsomebody else to fraudulently scan for you is a serious matterand can result in you being withdrawn from study At times amanual Class register will be taken to verify the digital recordYou are able to access your own attendance record throughmyUCLan
37
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
10 ATTENDANCE AND ENGAGEMENT
103 Procedure for non-engagement
If you are experiencing genuine difficulties which are making itdifficult to attend we will do our utmost to support and adviseyou However we can only do this if you tell us
1031 Notified Absences
There are two types of condoned absence - unplanned andplanned The first are those relating to a sudden illness whereyou are too ill to attend or a sudden unplanned event thatyou do not know about beforehand (generally a crisis of somekind) The latter are those that relate to events which conflictwith your lectures
Unplanned Absence (including illness)
In the event of illness or unplanned absence we ask that youcontact the Admin Hub as it is manned during office hours andis thus easier to reach than your Academic Adviser (who willbe lecturing in meetings or otherwise engaged for a lot of thetime) The Hub will then notify your lecturers for that day
The Admin Hub can be reached by telephoning 01772893451 or by e-mailing Fosterhubuclanacuk at the firstavailable opportunity
Please note that continued or repeated illnesses may resultin student being asked to supply a doctorrsquos note andor sub-mit an extenuating circumstances application Please discussthese with your Academic Adviser at the first possible oppor-tunity
Planned Absence
We all have times when we need to be absent from workThese may include
1 Child care - particularly during half-term or if the schoolphones to say little Johnny is ill
2 Family matters - It is a sad fact that our families age aswe age
3 Appointments - you are time tabled pretty strongly sofinding a doctorsdentistbank appointment around lec-tures isnrsquot always possible
4 Extra-curricular activities We donrsquot want to stop youhaving a social life and know that in exceptional cir-cumstances societies and just life itself will conflict withtimetabled lectures
5 Hint hang overs donrsquot count
Please e-mail the Module Leader if you are absent for a singlelecture or the Year Tutor if you are going to be away for morethan a single lecture
If nothing else please consider it a personal and profes-sional courtesy to notify us of a planned absence Your lectur-ers will then be able to advise you of the work that they plan toundertake and make sure that you have caught up afterwards
We are not ogres We donrsquot want to be issuing e-mails andnotices when you are already having a trying time Howeverwe donrsquot know not to do this if you donrsquot tell us
1032 Three-Strikes Policy for Absenteeism
We will be operating a three-strikes policy with regard to ab-senteeism and non-engagement In normal operation eachsuccessive strike will be triggered by a notification e-mail fromthe SAM system alerting both the student and the staff in-volved that there is a problem or an intervention from theSchool Engagement Assistants First contact counts as thefirst strike two in a row is the second strike third in a row isthe third strike
Strike One Students who have unsatisfactory attendancewill be given a first warning and asked to explain themselves totheir Academic Adviser Their Academic Adviser will discusshelp available and if necessary counsel the student about theUniversity support that is available
Strike Two Students whose attendance still has notreached an acceptable level will be escalated to the CourseLeader They will re-examine any support offered during theFirst Strike and counsel the student on their options movingforward
Strike Three A third instance of non-engagement will resultin the matter being escalated to the Academic Lead who willinterview the student pending their removal from the course
All official requests for students to see your Academic Ad-viser course leader or academic leader will first be sent toyour uclanacuk e-mail address by the Central Admin Ser-vice Failure to respond to those e-mails will result in the thirdstrike message also being sent to your term-time and homepostal addresses
If you are not re-engaging with your academic adviser youmay be referred to School staff andor Fresh Start supportWe do attempt to contact non-attenders by various means(email telephone letter) before withdrawing you from your pro-gramme of study
If you have not gained the required authorisation for leave ofabsence (see below) do not respond to communications fromthe University and if you are not engaged for four weeks ormore you may be deemed to have withdrawn from the courseIf this is the case then the date for your withdrawal will berecorded as the last day of attendance
104 International Students
If you are an international student you should be aware thatyou have responsibilities under the UK Border Agency (UKBA)Points Based System (PBS) - you MUST attend your course ofstudy regularly under PBS UCLan is obliged to tell UKBA ifyou withdraw from a course defer or suspend your studies orif you fail to attend the course regularly
Attendance for international students enrolled under thePoints-Based System (also known as PBS) is also monitoredcarefully The PBS system affects all students who are a non-EEAEUSwiss national Under PBS institutions must be reg-istered with the UK Border Agency in order to recruit interna-tional students
UCLan is a registered sponsor and has been awarded anrsquoArsquo rating this is the highest rating available As a registeredsponsor UCLan has several responsibilities to fulfil includingmonitoring the attendance of international students holding a
38
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
105 Prolonged Absence
PBS visa and reporting non-attendance failure to enrol andwithdrawals to the UK Border Agency
105 Prolonged Absence
If a prolonged absence from your course is unavoidable it maybe appropriate for you to consider intercalation the suspen-sion of your studies This may be done for personal reasons re-lating to family matters (including bereavement) medical rea-sons (including hospitalisation pregnancy and mental healthcircumstances) financial commitments etc The possibility ofintercalation may also be raised during discussions under theFitness to Study policy
You should discuss intercalation with your Academic Adviseror a university counsellor They can arrange the relevant pa-perwork at your request Intercalation will also have a financialdimension as it can affect your eligibility for financial supportand benefits as your student status is suspended
Please see the Intercalation webpage for more informationIndependent academic and financial advice should also besought from the Studentrsquos Union
39
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Chapter 11
Student Support and Guidance
There are multiple avenues available for students who needhelp support and guidance These include your AcademicAdviser the one-stop drop in centre at the rsquoirsquo and the studentrsquosunion A lot of guides and advice is also available from theStudent Support webpages
111 Academic Advisers
The role of your Academic Adviser is different from that of yourModule Tutors (although it is possible that your Academic Ad-viser will also be one of your module tutors) The latter sup-ports you on individual modules whereas your Academic Ad-viser is there to provide you with advice and support acrossyour course extending to personal difficulties such as accom-modation financial difficulties and sickness Your AcademicAdviser may be able to liaise with other UCLan services ordirect you to appropriate support within the University
You will meet with your Academic Adviser at the start ofeach academic year and should go to see them at least oncea semester after that In Year 0 you will normally have 2 or 3meetings in Semester 1 to ensure that you are settling in bothacademically and on a personal level You will also be recom-mended to visit your Academic Adviser to discuss your pro-gression possibilities after the Progression meeting in Febru-ary of each year
In addition you should see your Academic Adviser at anytime when you are in need of pastoral advice Your AcademicAdviser may refer you to Student Services but they should beyour first port of call
112 The lt i gt
The lt i gt is a central Student Information Centre and yourfirst point of contact You can obtain information on a widerange of topics including Council Tax Exemption CertificatesBank and Confirmation of Study Letters Portable FinancialCredits (continuing students only Printing and Printer CreditUCLan Cards the lt i gt shop and UCLan Financial SupportBursary (first year students only)
You can follow announcements from the lt i gt on Twitter orFacebook Even if the folks at the lt i gt cannot help your di-rectly they should be able to refer you to the person or Servicethat you need to speak to
113 The Studentsrsquo Union
The Studentsrsquo Union is the representative body for all UCLanstudents The organisation exists separately from the Univer-sity and is led by the elected officers of the Student AffairsCommittee (SAC) as well as representatives on the StudentsrsquoCouncil The Studentsrsquo Union building is located at the heartof the Preston campus and is the hub for all student activities
Representation and campaigning for studentsrsquo rights is atthe core of what we do and is encompassed by our tag lineof Making Life Better for Students Should you wish to makea change to any aspect of your student experience whether itbe academically related or not then the Union is where yourvoice can be heard actions taken or campaigns launched
Your Union is also the home to a fantastic range of student-led societies sports teams and multitudes of volunteering op-portunities You can also receive help in finding part-time workwhilst you study Not sure where to go pop into the Opportuni-ties Centre on the ground floor of the Studentsrsquo Union buildingand someone will point you in the right direction
We hope your time at University is trouble free but shouldyou come into difficulties around anything from academic ap-peals to issues with housing benefits or debt then our dedi-cated staff team in the Advice and Representation Centre areon hand to help As we are independently run from the univer-sity we can offer truly impartial advice
More information on all these things as well as details aboutall our (not-for-profit) commercial services including our stu-dent supermarket (Essentials) and student-bar (Source) canbe found at httpwwwuclansucouk
The Opportunities Centre is the Unionrsquos One Stop Shop tofind employment or volunteering whilst you study With thou-sands of jobs and voluntary positions advertised agency workthrough the Bridge and information on over 2000 volunteer po-sitions within the Union
114 Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
The University is a massive community with thousands of stu-dents many of whom with have at some time or another somemeasure of disability (whether it is obvious or not) There aretherefore proven support mechanisms in place for studentswith disabilities
41
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
11 STUDENT SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE
If you have a disability that may affect your studiesplease either contact the Disability Advisory Service - disabil-ityuclanacuk - or let one of the course team know as soonas possible With your agreement information will be passedon to the Disability Advisory Service
The University will make reasonable adjustments to accom-modate your needs and to provide appropriate support for youto complete your study successfully Where necessary youwill be asked for evidence to help identify appropriate adjust-ments See Section 99 for details about Personalised ExamProvision
115 The Careers Service
1151 Preparing for your career
Your future is important to us so to make sure that you achieveyour full potential whilst at university and beyond your coursehas been designed with employability learning integrated intoit This is not extra to your degree but an important part of itwhich will help you to show future employers just how valuableyour degree is These ldquoEmployability Essentialsrdquo take you ona journey of development that will help you to write your ownpersonal story of your time at university
bull To begin with you will explore your identity your likes anddislikes the things that are important to you and what youwant to get out of life
bull Later you will investigate a range of options including jobsand work experience postgraduate study and self- em-ployment
bull You will then be ready to learn how to successfully tacklethe recruitment process
You will be able to record your journey using Pebblepadthe universityrsquos e-portfolio system which will leave you with apermanent record of all the fantastic things you have achievedduring your time at UCLan
1152 Itrsquos your future take charge of it
Careers offers a range of support for you including-
bull career and employability advice and guidance appoint-ments
bull support to find work placements internships voluntaryopportunities part-time employment and live projectsworkshops seminars modules certificates and events todevelop your skills
bull Daily drop in service available from 0900-1700 for CVchecks and initial careers information
For more information come along and visit the team (in Fos-ter building near the main entrance) or access our careers andemployability resources via the Student Portal
42
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Chapter 12
Health And Well-Being
In this chapter we look at the general guidelines and regula-tions that exist to safeguard your well-being while you are atUniversity
121 Conduct
You will be expected to abide by the Regulations for the Con-duct of Students in the University UCLan expects you to be-have in a respectful manner demonstrated by using appropri-ate language in class and switching mobile phones otherdevices off prior to attending classes
If your behaviour is considered to be unacceptable anymember of academic staff is able to issue an informal oralwarning and the University will support staff by invoking for-mal procedures where necessary You can read more aboutUCLan expectations in the regulations for the Conduct of Stu-dents
122 Health and Safety
As a student of the University you are responsible for the safetyof yourself and for that of others around you You must under-stand and follow all the regulations and safety codes neces-sary for a safe campus environment Please help to keep itsafe by reporting any incidents accidents or potentially unsafesituations to a member of staff as soon as possible
1221 General Points
Safety assessments have been undertaken for each moduleof your course and you will be advised of all applicable safetycodes and any specific safety issues during the induction toyour course and modules During your Laboratory session youwill be given specific and important information on Health andSafety
There are some general rules that we ask everyone to ob-serve
1 Bags and coats should be stowed away under tables orbenches to avoid them becoming trip hazards
2 There is no eating or drinking in any laboratories or teach-ing rooms except during Official Functions
3 Please dispose of litter thoughtfully so that teachingspaces remain safe and tidy
4 The University buildings are no smoking areas
5 In the event of a fire alarm sounding please make yourway in an orderly fashion to the outside of the building andthe fire assembly points by following the fire exit signsDo not use the lifts
6 In the case of any other emergency follow the instructionsof the member of staff
You must ensure that you understand and apply all necessarysafety codes These form an essential element of your per-sonal development and contribute to the safety of others
1222 Dress Code
The University does not specify an explicit dress code for stu-dents beyond the expectation that they will ldquodress appropri-atelyrdquo for the learning or teaching activity in which they areparticipating There are two occasions when this might be var-ied
Laboratories Students may be asked to adhere to theUCLan Student Dress Policy concerning Health and Safetyin Laboratories and workshops Most of these rules weredrawn up for activities in ldquowet labsrdquo eg chemical or biolog-ical environments Nevertheless there will be times whenstudents must ensure that they are dressed in an appropri-ate manner for their environment eg reducing the dangerof entanglement of lose clothing or hair wearing of protec-tive gloveseyewearetc Please see the appropriate Labora-tory Handbook for more information
ExamsSecurity Students must bring their ID cards to ex-ams so that their identity can be verified Likewise ID cardsshould be carried on campus at all time for the same purposePlease be aware that this means we may have to visuallycheck that you match the photo on the card The Universitywill naturally observe sensitivity with regards to facial cover-ings in these circumstances but it is expected that studentswill co-operate with such requests
43
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
12 HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
123 Data Protection and Confidentiality
Personal information about you is gathered by the Universityvia a number of different routes This includes the informationthat you provide during your application (contact details priorqualifications personal reference) your enrolment (home ad-dress contact details etc) and your academic profiles (mod-ules grades reassessment decisions etc)
1231 Duty of Care
All students at UCLan are adults That means we cannot sharepersonal data about you with other individuals without your ex-press permission This even extends to the different Serviceswithin UCLan
Data Protection means that your tutors will not be told ofproblems in your accommodation counselling session finan-cial problems details of Extenuating Circumstances applica-tions and similar events unless you give your express permis-sion Please do not assume that we already know you arein trouble
1232 Information about You
All of the personal information obtained from you and othersources in connection with your studies at the University willbe held securely and will be used by the University both duringyour course and after you leave the University for a variety ofpurposes These are all explained during the enrolment pro-cess at the commencement of your studies If you would likea more detailed explanation of the Universityrsquos policy on theuse and disclosure of personal information please contact theInformation Governance Officer Clark to the Board ServiceUniversity of Central Lancashire Preston PR1 2HE or emailDPFOIAuclanacuk
The most common use of personal data is in an anonymousform for the purposes of quality assurance and providing datato government funding agencies
124 Fitness to Study Procedure
The University your School and the Course Team are commit-ted to supporting you through your studies We recognise thatyour individual health is paramount in enabling you to makethe most of the opportunities offered to you
Nevertheless there may come a time when your healthor wellbeing deteriorates to the point that it raises questionsabout your fitness and suitability to continue studying Thismay come about due to a physical injury stress caused byacademic or financial stress depression or other mental is-sues
When these questions arise a process occurs called the ldquoFit-ness to Studyrdquo procedure as laid down in Appendix 4 of theRegulations for the Conduct of Students In brief it consists ofthree stages
Stage 1 ndash Emerging Concerns Matters are raised with thestudent by an appropriate member of staff and normal supportoptions within the University are discussed It is expected thatstudents will respond positively to this and co-operate with the
support offered This is identical to the Strike One of the non-attendance procedure and that is often where the necessity toinvoke the Fitness to Study Procedure is identified
Stage 2 ndash Continuing Concerns If the Stage 1 interven-tion has not resulted in a decisive improvement or if mattersare serious enough they will be escalated At Stage 1 the ini-tiative remains with the student At Stage 2 the initiative movesto the support services themselves A joint meeting betweenthe student the appropriate member of staff and a represen-tative from the Student Welfare amp Counselling service will bearrange An Action Plan will be put in place at that meeting in-cluding agreed support measures and conditions that the stu-dent must adhere to
Stage 3 ndash Significant or Persistent Concerns A failureof a student to engage with the Action Plan or persistent con-cerns will result in a Case Conference being convened by se-nior Heads of Support Schools andor Services This may re-sult in the student being suspended from studies This is not adisciplinary suspension but is intended to allow time for a fullassessment of the circumstances to be considered Pleasesee the Regulations for the Conduction of Students for moreinformation
The Fitness to Study procedure is not about punishing stu-dents with problems rather is it there to make sure that stu-dents in trouble get the help they need Classic warning signsinclude lack of attendance self-isolation from friends failure torespond to requests for communication We would rather getyou into a cycle of help with the Fitness to Study procedurethan simply have to assume that you have withdrawn from thecourse
44
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Appendix A
Physics FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Physics Institute of Physics (IoP)Engineering Engineering CouncilPhysics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BSc (Hons) Physics (and related degreeschemes) at Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected ofa student who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physics andorAstrophysics
45
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with thatexpected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BSc (Hons) in Physicsandor Astrophysics
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study physics or engineering at a degree level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
46
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BSc (Hons) Physics (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the MPhys (Hons) BSc (Hons)Physics (or related specialism) with 120 credits and an average mark of at least 60 Progression for students with anaverage mark between 50-60 will be at the discretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that studentswill continue to develop higher level physics and mathematics skills as the core requirement for progression to the final degreeaward
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
47
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
A PHYSICS FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
48
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Appendix B
Engineering FYE Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learningoutcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if heshe takes full advantageof the learning opportunities that are providedSources of information on the programme can be found in Section 17
1 Awarding Institution Body University of Central Lancashire
2 Teaching Institution and Location of Delivery University of Central LancashirePreston main campus
3 University SchoolCentre Computing Engineering and Physical Sciences
4 External Accreditation None
5 Title of Final Award BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry)(non-award-bearing programme initial stage of 4 year degree course)
6 Modes of Attendance offered Full-time
7 UCAS Code
8 Relevant Subject Benchmarking Group(s) Engineering Engineering Council
Physics A-Level Mathematics A-Level
9 Other external influences
10 Date of productionrevision of this form 2 May 2014
11 Aims of the Programme
This programme aims to
bull supply the necessary expertise and experience required for students to enter the BEng (Hons) Engineering programmesat Level 4 where they do not already possess the necessary formal (Level 3) qualifications to do so
bull provide students with a background and experience in physics at Level 3 that is commensurate with that expected of astudent who has fulfilled the physics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
bull provide students with a background and experience in mathematical methods at Level 3 that is commensurate with that ex-pected of a student who fulfilled the mathematics entry requirements (nominally A2 level) for the BEng (Hons) programmes
49
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
bull provide students with a range of skills necessary to study engineering at a degree level level
12 Learning Outcomes Teaching Learning and Assessment Methods
A Knowledge and Understanding
Learning Outcomes
A1 Describe and explain at a basic level (3) the fundamental laws of physics
A2 Describe and explain the basics of mathematics and calculus at level 3
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory experiments designed to reinforce material from the lectures
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
B Subject-specific skills
Learning Outcomes
B1 Solve physics problems at Level 3 using appropriate mathematical methods and diagrams
B2 Solve simple mathematical and calculus problems at Level 3
B3 Perform simple physics experiments using appropriate techniques and apparatus
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Laboratory classes will be run in the second semester involving pre-laboratory preparation the performance of experimentsdrawn from the physics syllabus and the recording of results
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
bull Reports and presentations
C Thinking Skills
Learning Outcomes
C1 Distinguish between different physical and mathematical problems and choose the appropriate method to solve them
C2 The ability to take a physical problem set up a mathematical equation appropriate to the problem and then solve it
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Lectures accompanied by extensive tutorials
bull Guided study using worked examples and background material from the core course texts
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
50
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
Assessment methods
bull Examinations (end of year and mid-seminar tests) monitoring of required exercises laboratory logbooks and reports
D Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
Learning Outcomes
D1 Manage own learning making optimum use of appropriate texts and learning materials
D2 Time management and the ability to meet deadlines
D3 Real world problem solving skills
D4 Recognising laboratory work place hazards and risks
Teaching and Learning Methods
bull Risk assessments are an integral part of the laboratory and project work
bull Problem solving and real world skills are developed via the need to maintain a satisfactory
bull Feedback on assessed and unassessed work
Assessment methods
bull Formal scientific reports for laboratory work and projects
bull Presentations
13 Programme Structures
Level Module Code Module Title Credit rating
3 APC801 Introduction to University Physics 20
3 APC802 Motion Forces and Force Fields 20
3 APC803 The Road to Quantum Mechanics 20
3 APC804 Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC805 Further Mathematical Methods 20
3 APC806 Vectors and Graphics 20
14 Awards and Credits
BEng (Hons) Engineering (Foundation Entry) provides a progression route to year 1 of the following awards BEng(Hons) Mechanical Engineering BEng (Hons) Electronic Engineering BEng (Hons) Motor Sports Engineering BEng(Hons) Computer Aided Engineering BEng (Hons) Robotics Engineering BEng (Hons) Energy Engineering with 120credits and an average mark of at least 50 Progression for students with an average mark between 40-50 will be at thediscretion of the assessment board This reflects the expectation that students will continue develop a range of high level designimplementation and analytical skills in Engineering underpinned by the physics and mathematics curriculum in this programme
Students who exit after successful completion of 120 credits at Level 3 will receive a transcript of the modules andgrades
15 Personal Development Planning
Students coming onto the course will be accustomed to a highly prescriptive taught regime The Foundation Year is designedto lead a student from this method of study on a regime where they are in charge of their own learning as an independentlearner thereby preparing the students for entry on to a BSc or BEng degree scheme
51
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-
B ENGINEERING FYE PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
16 Admissions criteria
This programme is partly tailored towards students who have taken a non-traditional path to higher-education We embracea flexible set of entry criteria in the recognition that many applicants will not necessarily possess the ldquoright piecerdquo of paperor formal academic evidence of their skills Our applicants are envisaged to include mature students returning to educationschool leavers who were misadvised on their A-Level choices or other students who have otherwise just missed the nominalBSc (Hons) or BEng (Hons) entry requirements We thus welcome applications from mature students and those with non-standard entry qualifications
It is recognised that these candidates may not possesses a normal UCAS points tariff They will nevertheless be expected todemonstrate some aptitude interest and awareness of physics and mathematics Preference will be given towards candidateswho demonstrate a strong interest in the study area
Flexible entry means that we are happy to consider candidates with a range of different qualifications eg GCSE BTECcollege Foundation courses etc Nevertheless applicants must demonstrate that they are capable of achieving a suitableacademic standard For example for students using GCSEs to support their application we would request the equivalent ofgrade C or above in Single Science or Combined Science Each application will be assessed on it individual
Candidates should comply with the usual UCLan entry regulations as set out in Section E of the Academic RegulationsSpecifically section E241 ndash proficiency in English equivalent to or greater than IELTS Level 6 Additionally UCLan entryregulations say candidates for the degree must thus possess the equivalent of grade C or above GCSEs in English and Maths
17 Key sources of information about the programme
bull UCLan website wwwuclanacuk
bull Course factsheet and Student Handbook
18 Curriculum Skills Map
52
- Preface
-
- This Document
- Statements
-
- Induction amp Orientation
-
- Introduction
-
- Heads Welcome
-
- Course Structure and Overview
-
- Rationale and Aims
- Enrolment and Induction
- Tutors and Leads
- The Academic Year
- Modules
- Time Table
- Results
- Progression
- Further Information
-
- Before You Arrive
-
- Revision
- Stationary
- Calculators
- Misc
-
- Text Books
-
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Study Skills
-
- Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Study Time
- Results and Progression
-
- Student Finance
-
- Tuition Fees
- Living costs
- Additional Costs
- Student Finance
-
- Course Operation
-
- Communication
-
- Methods of Communication
- The Student Voice
- Course Representatives and School Presidents
- Student Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (SSLC)
- Complaints
-
- Teaching
-
- Expertise of Staff
- Teaching Methods
- Lectures
- Tutorials
- Teaching Spaces
- Study Support
- Learning Information Services
-
- Assessment
-
- Assessment Principles
- Assessment Methods
- Notification of Assignments and Examination Arrangements
- Feedback
- Extensions and late submissions
- Quality Assurance
- Classification of Awards
- Extenuating Circumstances
- Personalised Exam Provision (PEP)
- Cheating plagiarism collusion or re-presentation
-
- Attendance and Engagement
-
- Attendance is Important
- Student Attendance Monitoring
- Procedure for non-engagement
- International Students
- Prolonged Absence
-
- Student Support and Guidance
-
- Academic Advisers
- The ltigt
- The Students Union
- Disabilities and Learning Difficulties
- The Careers Service
-
- Health And Well-Being
-
- Conduct
- Health and Safety
- Data Protection and Confidentiality
- Fitness to Study Procedure
-
- Physics FYE Programme Specification
- Engineering FYE Programme Specification
-