module specification

Professional Development for Communications Technology
This module prepares students for undergraduate projects.
 

None

Prepare students for researching, producing and defending/supporting their final year project.
The graduate attributes focused on in the module are A1, A2 and A3.

1. LSEP/IPR
2. Preparation for dissertation (as appropriate), innovation, types of project (research, implement
soothing to solve a problem, investigation...)
3. Developing a project proposal;
4. Project management and planning (including aims, management of resource, risk and time
and contingency planning)
5. The viva (as appropriate to subject)
6. The importance of oral presentation (as appropriate to subject)
7. Project marking process, importance of final year report, good and bad projects
8. Report writing – structure, content and tailoring to audience
9. Review of best principles – Research, analysis and critical reflection, referencing and avoiding
plagiarism

The module will be taught over 11 weeks. Teaching methods will include a range of the following: tutor led seminar discussions, student led discussions, small group discussions and exercises, individual exercises, lectures given by tutor. The teaching methods will support the main aim of encouraging independent lifelong learning. The module will be delivered by a team of staff aiming to encourage enthusiasm for HE learning and subject knowledge. Students will be given one hour lectures on generic skills. The students will then be split up into subject specific clusters for tutorials. Tutorials will be student centred using carefully graduated exercises to build up student's confidence and self-esteem and will also provide the opportunity for students to reinforce learning and demonstrate their skills and receive individual advice from their tutor.

Each tutorial session will be delivered in a way which reflect the context and nature of a particular cluster of courses: computing and infrormation systems, multimedia, mathematics, or communications technology. Extensive use will be made of examples and case studies as vehicles to develop the specific skills shown in the syllabus, but the examples and case studies themselves will be drawn from the particular context of the cluster. In this way, all students will develop a common set of appropriate skills but placed within a context related to their chose course.

On successful completion of this module students will.

1. Be able to appropriately develop, manage and deliver a project proposal. [A1]
2. Demonstrate an awareness of the importance of ethical issues underpinning academic
research. [A3]
3. Have the necessary attributes in close reading, analysis, critical thinking and debate, finding
and using secondary sources, presenting written work correctly, giving oral presentations. [A3]
4. Be able to demonstrate ability to effectively research, plan and structure reports and
presentations, and to effectively deliver the latter. [A2][A3]

Assessment examines the ability to both develop a subject based project proposal and to support/defend it via either a viva or oral presentation (as appropriate to subject).

50% is available for the student’s project proposal and 50% for the associated viva or oral presentation.

Depending upon the conventions associated with employment in the relevant subject area, the project proposal and supporting viva or oral presentation may be undertaken as group work.

1. Burns, T and Sinfield, S (2003 2nd Edition due 2008) Essential Study Skills: the complete
Guide to success @ university London;Sage
2. Cottrell, S. (2003) The Study Skills Handbook. 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
3. McMillan, K. & Weyers, J. (2007) How To Succeed In Exams & Assessments. Prentice Hall.
4. Levin, P. (2007) Successful Teamwork! McGraw-Hill.
5. Emden, J. V. and Becker, L. (2004) Presentation Skills for Students. Basingstoke: Palgrave
Macmillan Ltd.
6. McMillan, K. & Weyers, J. (2007) How to Write Dissertations & Project Reports. Prentice Hall.
7. Cooper, S. & Patton, R. (2004) Writing Logically, Thinking Critically. 4th ed. New York:
Pearson Longman.
8. Cottrell, S. (2005) Critical Thinking Skills: Developing Effective Analysis and Argument. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
9. Ehrenborg, J. & Mattock, J. (2001) Powerful Presentations: great ideas for making a real
impact. London: Kogan Page.
10. Kroehnert, G. (1998) Basic Presentation Skills. London: McGraw-Hill Companies.
11. Bailey, S. (2003) Academic Writing: a practical guide for students. London: Routledge Falmer.
12. On-line lit review – to demonstrate the genre and function of the Literature Review and to
reveal the highs and lows of engaging in the Lit Review process:

You can view Lit Review at:
http://litreview.pbwiki.com/
And blog at:
http://onlinelitreview.blogspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html