Module NSCI3966: Natural Sciences Placement MSci

Department: Natural Sciences

NSCI3966: Natural Sciences Placement MSci

Prerequisites

• To be allowed to transfer to the MSci with Placement, students must be eligible to enter Level 3 prior to embarking on the Placement, i.e. have passed modules within the remit of Natural Sciences Progamme to the value of 120 credits at Level 2 before the Placement begins. They must have secured a Placement with an approved Placement Provider, with approval from the Placement Officer. They must have completed the required Health and Safety, Insurance and other legal approvals.

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To provide the experience of working in an industrial environment as complementary to academic study. This will enable students to acquire transferable skills, to develop personally, and to increase their chances of employment, with the Placement Provider or otherwise, upon graduation.

Content

• This will be chosen in agreement with the Placement Provider, but may range from involvement in research or technical projects to business experience.

Learning Outcomes

• Increased knowledge and understanding of the industrial environment, as distinct from the academic, and of the hierarchies, routines, pressures, and disciplines of this environment.
• Increased knowledge of the specific techniques involved in the Placement, and of their practical application.
• An enhanced ability to work independently or in a team, as appropriate to the Placement.
• An enhanced ability to work on both technical and non-technical tasks, and with non-technical colleagues.
• Increased confidence in the ability to work in different environments and to assume personal responsibility.
• An ability to manage one's affairs and time, and to be assessed within an industrial environment.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Pre-Placement briefing in order to prepare the student for the industrial environment and the nature of the Placement.
• Regular contact with a Placement Advisor during the Placement to help the student assess the on-going value of the Placement and the skills acquired including one site visit by the Placement Advisor which may be online.
• Post-Placement debriefing to help the student assess the final value of the Placement and the skills acquired.
• Assessment will be via a short report/portfolio on the Placement.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

N/A

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University