BE5072 - Marks and Impression Evidence (2025/26)
| Module specification | Module approved to run in 2025/26, but may be subject to modification | ||||||||||||||||
| Module title | Marks and Impression Evidence | ||||||||||||||||
| Module level | Intermediate (05) | ||||||||||||||||
| Credit rating for module | 15 | ||||||||||||||||
| School | School of Human Sciences | ||||||||||||||||
| Total study hours | 150 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Running in 2025/26(Please note that module timeslots are subject to change) |
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Module summary
This module aims to broaden the forensic science content of the course and build on practical statement writing skills that you have started to master in previous modules. The module will deepen and broaden your understanding of the forensic application of marks and impression evidence.
Areas of study will include the theory of marks and impression evidence and how to locate and investigate these evidence types using forensic techniques, alongside the analysis and interpretation of marks and impression evidence.
Alongside this, you will practically explore the retrieval and evaluation of these types of evidence with an aim to underpin the role of a marks and impression evidence forensic scientist in the laboratory, at crime scenes, in court. This will give you an opportunity for you to build your statement writing skills from other modules in these evidence types.
The aims of this module are aligned with the qualification descriptors within the Quality Assurance Agency’s, Framework for Higher Education Qualifications.
This module aims to provide you with the qualities and transferable skills necessary for employment requiring the application of personal responsibility and decision-making alongside key forensic evidence knowledge and interpretation.
Prior learning requirements
BE4061
Syllabus
Marks and Impression evidence, eg footwear marks, tyre marks and fingerprints (1,2)
Case studies in marks and impression evidence (2)
The role of a forensic marks and impression evidence expert in the laboratory and at a scene, including:
- Contemporaneous notes, recording/recovery/collection of evidence, anti-contamination procedures,
- The interpretation of marks and impression evidence (2,3)
Balance of independent study and scheduled teaching activity
The module is delivered via lectures, tutorials, workshops and practical sessions (38 hours). Tutorials will allow informal-teacher led discussions of the issues raised in the lectures and are also used to allow practice in the key skills of communication, interpretation and analysis through case studies and article reviews. Practical sessions are designed to allow the students to put the theory from lectures into practice utilising real-time experimental techniques and scenarios.
The remainder of the time allocated will be used for self-directed learning. Students will be expected to reflect upon taught material in order to demonstrate their understanding of the aspects of forensic science covered in this module. Students will be given guidance on what topics should be explored during their self-directed learning.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
1. Display knowledge and understanding of the main methods used in marks and impression evidence
2. Explain the forensic evidential value of marks and impression evidence types and interpret and evaluate marks and impression evidence casework findings.
3. Demonstrate and apply knowledge of the role of a marks and impression evidence expert within a case, including the recovery, collection, preservation and documentation of marks and impression evidence, and statement writing skills.