LABORATORIES, DESIGN & PROFESSIONAL STUDIES III - 2021/2

Module Overview

 





Expected prior learning: Learning equivalent to Year 1 of EE Programmes.




Module purpose: Hands-on experimental skills, professional skills, and enterprise skills are important to today’s electronic engineers. This module helps the students to develop these skills by offering them laboratory-based experiments, team design projects and professional studies on transferrable skills. These activities are based on either individual or team work.





 

Module provider

Computer Science and Electronic Eng

Module Leader

GUILLEMAUT Jean-Yves (Elec Elec En)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 5

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes the following:

Laboratory Experiments and Projects

The laboratory programme is accompanied by a “Laboratory lectures" session at the beginning of the Semester, relating to general issues such as safety. It is mandatory for all students to attend these lectures.   Matlab will also be introduced as a way of data analysis and modelling.

Attendance at laboratories is mandatory and students spend up to six hours per week in the laboratory. The laboratory programme consists of a combination of project work and experiments. Each of the experiments is a stand-alone learning experience which is best appreciated when considered in the context of the associated lecture course(s). Project work is carried out in small teams to develop not only practical skills, but also to improve planning, management, teamwork and student integration.

In part, the experiments support the lectured material; but they are also intended to familiarise students with the use of the electronic instruments needed to test circuits and measure their electronic characteristics, and to introduce students to the practicalities of circuits and circuit components, and to practical techniques useful in the context of electronic design. Students will also be exposed to the use of simulation as an aid to analogue and digital design. The experiments are designed to help students understand the relationship between theory, simulation and actual circuits, appreciate the difference between design expectation and actual performance, and acquire confidence in testing circuits. For further details see the laboratory manuals.

Each student will be required to prepare for the experiment beforehand as instructed in the laboratory manuals and provide evidence of the preparation in their Lab log book. Students will be encouraged to analyse data as it is taken, to compare results with the relevant theory, and to keep an effective record of findings in the Lab log book. The primary purpose of the laboratory supervisors and demonstrators is to maximise the learning process, and students should appreciate that finishing an experiment is not as important as understanding what has been done.


Enterprise Project Preparation

The students will be asked to conduct an enterprise project within a group. The project will be carried out across the entire academic year. In the Autumn semester or LDPS3, the students are expected to complete preparation tasks of the project, including: each student generating an enterprise project idea, each group of students selecting an idea among the team members, and the group then presenting the selected project ideas in front of the entire class. The remaining tasks will be carried out and completed in the following Spring semester at LDPS4.

The enterprise project idea generated by each student should be in terms of an innovation, service or product relating to the ITEC (Information Technology, Electronics and Computing) sector that the student thinks could be commercialised. The business should aim to generate at least £50,000 of income in the first year of trading and break even within 3 years.

The enterprise project runs along similar lines to what is found in industry. It offers an opportunity for the students to put their general skills into practice, incl. team working, project management, presentation, and leadership, etc. The students will work in a group in a self-disciplined manner.





 

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Not applicable: students failing a unit of assessment re-sit the assessment in its original format.

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy for this module is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate the learning outcomes. A series of coursework and assignments have been designed to assess their technical skills in the lab experiments and professional skills in the enterprise project.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of the following:

• Assessment of lab based experiments upon the completion of each experiment;


• Assessment of group-based lab projects in week 11;


• Enterprise task 1 Idea generation and selection (group assignment) due in Week 8;


• Enterprise task 2 Idea presentation (group assignment) taking place in Week 10.

• During lectures, by question and answer sessions;


• During tutorials;


• During a half-day leadership short course;


• During supervised laboratory sessions. A set of lab preparation questions is provided to the students prior to the actual lab activities;


• Via the marking of written reports;

• Via assessed coursework.

Module aims

• To provide the opportunity required by professional accreditation for the students to gain hand-on experience and advanced competency in laboratory practice which will built upon the LDPS I and LDPS II modules from Year 1.
• To complement the lecture courses by ensuring the students verify theoretically developed concepts and models and discover their limitations via physical experiments.
• To provide the students opportunities to develop various transferrable skills including team working, presentation and problem-solving skills, and a sense of commercial awareness.
• To prepare the students for professional and future career development.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is to provide the high quality student learning experience that combines academic rigour, personal and professional development and employability through introducing students to the most up-to-date knowledge that will enhance and develop their skills for independent academic study, digital media literacy, innovation, and working in professional contexts.

Learning and teaching methods include the following:

• Supervised laboratory work: 6 hours per week;


• Team working short course: half day in week 3 or 4;

• Lectures/tutorials: 1 hour per week;


• Online materials for guided learning and independent learning.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: EEE2036

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2021/2 academic year.