TRANSFERABLE AND LABORATORY SKILLS - 2023/4

Module Overview

This module consists of two parts.

 

The first part, Laboratory Skills, contains experiments selected so as to support other parts of the level 1 curriculum and to develop a range of generic skills including practical laboratory skills, data handling and understanding experimental uncertainty.

The second part, Transferable skills, is focused on academic research skills, writing skills and presentation skills. These skills, whilst of generic importance to undergraduate study, are examined largely in the context of presenting the findings of experimental work or information relevant to Year 1 Chemical Engineering students.

Module provider

Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Module Leader

KOUSI Kalliopi (Chst Chm Eng)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 4

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

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None.

Module content

Indicative content includes:

1. Laboratory Experiments

Six laboratory experiments will be conducted in small groups (~12h). These experiments are complementary to the wider level 1 curriculum.

2. Lectures

There is 1 lecture (~1h): An Introduction to Transferable Skills and Laboratory Skills

3. Seminars

There are 8 seminars (~8h): How to write Scientific Reports I and II, Academic Writing I and II, Research Skills I and II, PowerPoint and Oral Presentations, CVs and covering letters.

4. Skills Tutorials

There are 6 skills tutorials (~12h) (class size c.~50 students) in which skills are developed during formative exercises. The exercises use Word and Excel to explore academic writing, referencing, data presentation and manipulation, and research skills.

5. Presentation Tutorials

There are 4 tutorials in oral presentations (~6h student-led).

Students should typically spend c. 110 hours of time in preparation for laboratories, completing the formative assessments and in personally directed skill development

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate the full range of learning outcomes though the balanced mixture of lecture and tutorial/problem classes coupled with the carefully grades tutorial problems which reflect current industrial practice.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:
 

Laboratory Reports – 50%, Assessment through a series of lab reports and in-situ / online tests (6, each worth from 8-10%) (LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6, LO7, LO9)

MatLab assessment – 15%, assessment of appropriate and effective use of academic resources for research (LO4, LO5, LO6, LO7, LO9) through one piece of coursework

Excel assessment – 15%, assessment of appropriate and effective use of academic resources for research (LO4, LO5, LO6, LO7, LO9)  through one piece of coursework

Oral Presentation – 20%, Individual Presentation (LO4, LO6, LO8)


Formative assessment

Online assessment of Excel competence following use of online teaching resources and tutorials, as detailed above.

 

Written feedback given on all lab report assignments, and verbal feedback given during and after lab sessions and immediately following presentations, chairing roles and peer review of other students’ presentations.

In every laboratory session, students have face-to face discussions with the experiment supervisor and receive their preparation and session marks at this time.

Written feedback on the lab reports is returned within 3 weeks, to enable feed-forward to the writing of the next report and is formative as well as summative.

 

Staff and PGs give formative feedback in the tutorials as the students undertake a diverse range of tasks involving basic academic presentation skills, basic programming, data presentation and data handling.

 

The feedback given after each presentation provides an on-going formative experience on oral presentation skills.

Feedback

Weekly verbal feedback will be given during tutorial classes.

Written feedback on the MatLab assessment


Written and verbal feedback on the oral presentation

Weekly verbal feedback will be given during laboratory sessions

Written and verbal feedback on the laboratory reports

Module aims

• Laboratory experience which reinforces and illustrates wider aspects of the engineering curriculum.
• Basic training in standard experimental approaches, including the handling of data and dealing with experimental uncertainty.
• A basic knowledge and understanding of appropriate and effective use of academic resources for research.
• Support in understanding how to structure and present academic work with an emphasis on writing laboratory reports and project reports.
• Practical formative experience in delivering oral presentations.
• A basic introduction to the use of Excel in support of their laboratory work and other academic studies.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:
 

Use lectures and tutorials to develop a basic understanding of appropriate and effective use of academic resources for research.

Use student-led oral presentations to develop necessary skills in structuring and presenting projects.

 

Provide students practical training in standard experimental approaches, to develop the ability to prepare, perform and effectively report experimental investigations.

 

Encourage and train students with teamwork in an engineering context.

 

The learning and teaching methods include:

Lectures

Seminars

IT-lab based tutorials

Oral presentations

Laboratory training

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.

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: ENG1083

Other information

The School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas

Employability: This module is the core module to ensure employability for all students. It particularly includes sessions where students are taught how to effectively produce cover letters and CVs as well as engineering reports, preparing students for their professional development beyond academia. Additionally , since they are asked to work on group coursework they develop teamwork and communication skills.

Resourcefulness and Resilience:  Students are divided into groups by timetabling, and don’t choose the group they will have to work with to complete the laboratory reports/assessment. Through this activity they develop communication and group-work skills and learn to manage timelines of different group members to deliver an engineering project. Support by teaching staff is offered to facilitate groupwork discussions and team building. Additionally, they are asked to complete many different types of assessments such as YouTube videos, PowerPoint Presentations and In-situ Tests which ensures that they also develop resourcefulness and resilience to adapt to all these different types which might include skills they don’t feel comfortable with.

Digital Capabilities: This module focuses heavily on enhancing our students’ learning with digital capabilities. There are online tests on top of the in-situ tests and as with all modules, students are also expected to engage with online material and resources  via  SurreyLearn,  and  other  digital  platforms. Additionally, video guidance on how to properly prepare for the laboratories are available for everyone and students are asked to produce a Youtube video (the world leading social media for video learning and entertainment) as part of their laboratory assessment. Lastly, a big part of the module is getting proficient with MATLAB, a programming and numeric computing platform used by millions of engineers and scientists to analyze data, develop algorithms, and create models, as well as Excel, to format, organize and calculate data in a digital format.

Sustainability: ENG1083 gives students all tools to succeed in our transition towards sustainability. In this engineers who find answers and develop creative solutions to new and complex challenges are needed. Collecting, analyzing, and reporting of data, indicating the results of sustainability efforts over time and communicating these findings through data visualization and presentation skills are of essence. In addition, laboratory skills will also be essential to all those who need to develop new technologies that will enable our sustainability goals to become palpable. Lastly, in the presentation part of the module topics presented relate to sustainability aspects, hence students would develop awareness through either preparing a presentation on the topic or by listening to others.

Global and Cultural Capabilities: In this module, students are taught how to present their work in a professional way, how to get universal engineering skills and are asked to work in teams. All the above are designed to allow students to excel in critical problem solving, work in multidisciplinary teams and develop skills that will allow them to work in diverse high-level careers.

Programmes this module appears in

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 2023/4 academic year.