Physics with Foundation Year BSc (Hons) - 2024/5

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The University of Surrey is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This programme is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas:

Digital capabilities: Students develop skills and confidence in using a variety of software tools, and they are encouraged as well as supported in organising and setting up their own social network groups. Examples include: Students are introduced to Microsoft Teams as part of their group projects, and working with these tools in a professional versus social setting is explored. Programming languages such as Matlab, Javascript and Python are introduced. The students become conversant with working within the university VLE (SurreyLearn) through dedicated training sessions which are reinforced with embedded activities in specific modules (which may use different aspects of SurreyLearn functionality, particularly for different assessment styles.) All students learn to use tools such as the similarity checker Turnitin and debating the use of generative AI tools is now a learning objective within the Computer Laboratory module. Further applications that students need to develop competency in for producing academic output include using MS Office tools such as Word, Excel and Power point.

Employability: Students learn to use industry standard software packages such as MS Office suite, MATLAB and introductory programming with Python (the industry standard for Data Science and numerous other application domains.) Engineering and Physical Sciences students undertake a group project. We liaise with the University Student Enterprise team to provide mentoring and guidance, as well as being part of the Engineers in Business Competition that provides opportunities for prize money and links with the Sainsbury's Management Fellows for mentorship.

Global and cultural capabilities: The student cohort has a diverse spectrum of social and cultural backgrounds. Students are encouraged to work together, particularly in lab and tutorial sessions where they gain exposure to different points of view, approaches and experiences. On a practical level students encounter scenarios where for instance they have to change the usage of familiar language, such as the use of reserved words in Matlab. The programming language was constructed using American English so simple commands using the word colour will not work and students have to use the word color instead. This can be a source of frustration but provides a useful exemplar of how different cultural points of view, in this case the choice of spellings for reserved words, forces us to adjust our way of working. Students also learn for example that engineers work to different standards in different countries and that design codes and health and safety regulations may evolve as a function of location. For instance, structural design codes and building regulations in Japan consider the impact of earthquakes - clearly this is not a consideration when building new homes in the UK.

Resourcefulness and resilience: All of the modules are designed in such a way as to encourage and support the progressive development of independent thinking and resourcefulness through scaffolded activities and assessments. Students are exposed to challenging authentic scenarios which invariably lead to setbacks and frustration. They are encouraged to reflect and fault find and to question their strategy if the outcome of a problem-solving process is not as expected. Students learn how to seek verification of their output through independent research or peer collaboration and how to respond constructively to formal and informal feedback.

Sustainability: When students join the FYP they often have a very mechanical approach to problem solving, accepting facts and applying them without question and without consideration of the implication for society or for the environment. Through the introduction of more complex and connected scenarios, such as within independent research projects, the students begin to appreciate that there are often many ways of approaching the same problem and the solutions have differing impacts on society and the environment. UN sustainability goals are considered and discussed as a part of the group project work. Societal and environmental impact, and real-world examples are included in module teaching and learning.