STUDENT HANDBOOK
MSc PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING
A Masters Degree
by Work Based Distance Learning
2012
Produced by:
Aston University
Birmingham
B4 7ET[1]
© Copyright 2010
Table of Contents
Welcome from the Programme Director……………………........................................................... 4
Aston University ……………………….............................................................................................. 6
The Programme Within the University ..................................................................................... 6
General Programme Information.............................................................................................. 8
The Learning Agreement ........................................................................................................... 10
Developing a Learning Agreement …………………………………..…................................................... 11
Learning Agreement Content and the Building of Credits ………………………………………............... 13
What is Work Based Distance Learning ..................................................................................... 14
Certification ………........................................................................................................................ 15
The Delivery of Distance Learning at Aston University; The Blended Learning Approach.......... 15
A Pedagogy of Work Based learning for Professional Engineers ................................................ 16
Professional Supervisors ……….................................................................................................... 19
Academic Supervisors ………......................................................................................................... 20
Workplace (or Company) Mentors ............................................................................................. 21
Personal Characteristics Required for Work Based Learning Success ....................................... 22
Thinking About Learning ............................................................................................................ 23
Understanding and Logic ........................................................................................................... 26
Professional Engineers and Engineering Reasoning .................................................................. 27
Definitions and Jargon ……........................................................................................................... 30
Communications......................................................................................................................... 32
Personal Tutors........................................................................................................................... 33
Assessment Strategy................................................................................................................... 33
Submission of Summative Assessment Work ............................................................................ 35
Extension of Submission Dates ................................................................................................... 36
Board of Examiners .................................................................................................................. 36
Release of Marks....................................................................................................................... 37
Extenuating Circumstances....................................................................................................... 37
Appeals Procedure.................................................................................................................... 37
Plagiarism and Collusion........................................................................................................... 38
Referencing and Bibliography.................................................................................................. 39
University / Student Charter ................................................................................................... 39
Student Views and Representation......................................................................................... 39
University Rules and Regulations............................................................................................ 40 Appeals, Complaints and Disciplinary Regulations................................................................. 40
Services Available from the Administration Office.................................................................. 40
What’s Available at Aston University to Help You................................................................... 41
Student Support...................................................................................................................... 42
University Counselling Service................................................................................................ 44
Aston Learning Development Centre...................................................................................... 45
Equality and Diversity............................................................................................................. 45
Finance................................................................................................................................... 46
Information System Aston (ISA)............................................................................................. 47
Library Information Services (LIS)........................................................................................... 47
JS Campus Bookshop.............................................................................................................. 49
PLEASE CONTACT ASTON UNIVERSITY DIRECTLY IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO REQUEST ANY OF THESE APPENDICES
Appendix A Aston University General Regulations for Postgraduate Taught Programmes
Appendix B Guide to the MSc Professional Engineering
Appendix C MSc Professional Engineering Programme Specification
Appendix D Module specifications
Appendix E Extract from QAA’s “The framework for higher education qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland”; August 2008. Descriptor for a higher education qualification at level 7: Master's degree
Appendix F Aston University Assessment Regulations and Policy
Appendix G MSc Professional Engineering Generic Band Assessment Descriptors
Appendix H Aston University General Regulations for Postgraduate Degrees
Appendix I Extenuating Circumstances Form and Guidance Notes (new guidance to be issued by Registry for 2010/11, including name change to ‘Exceptional’ circumstances)
Appendix J Referencing and Bibliography
Appendix K How to Conduct Effective Research
Appendix J Aston University Calendar of Key Dates
Appendix K Guidance for using Blackboard
WELCOME FROM THE PROGRAMME DIRECTOR
It gives me a great pleasure to welcome you onto the MSc Professional Engineering Programme. I and my colleagues are very pleased that you and your employer have chosen Aston University to partner you in your continuing professional and academic development towards Chartered Engineer status.
You join us at a point in time when higher education is undergoing a significant change in its relationship with society and industry, and as part of that change we at Aston are embarking on an exercise to widen our way of delivering programmes: to include means other than the conventional way of face-to-face in classrooms. With this vision, Aston University aims at reaching beyond its campus and to offer programmes for those eager to continue their education and development by learning in their workplace.
The programme you are enrolling onto is a Worked Based Distance Learning (WBDL) programme which gives you the flexibility to meet your schedule, you location and your personal needs. Every engineer on the programme will develop their own version of it; one that is specifically designed to meet their individual requirements and circumstances. This will be your course of study. It is an Aston University “programme” which is made up of individual engineer’s “courses” of study. So when you hear it being called a programme this is referring to the generic organisational arrangements, and when you hear it being a called a course this is referring to either your own, or somebody else’s, individual learning arrangements and requirements.
This Student Handbook aims to serve as a reference guide for the programme delivery. The information included in it is intended to provide you with information to get you started. It will help you in the process of generating your own course of study and it will give you a brief introduction to the skills necessary to become a successful Worked Based Distance Learner. However the very nature of the programme, its flexibility and variety, means that this handbook will not answer all the questions you might have. Whenever you need any further information you can call or email your academic supervisor, your professional supervisor or the programme administrator.
You may also hear WBDL referred to in a number of ways:
• Learning through E-learning environment
• Co-operative education (usually in North America)
• Blended learning
• Online/WBL/Action/Distance/Hybrid learning/education
But whatever term is used, WBDL offers unique difficulties and unique benefits. The information you read in this Student Handbook is not going to turn you into a model WBDL student overnight, but hopefully it will help you develop enduring strategies for success. We hope that you will explore the resources and suggestions offered here and will find your WBDL experience rewarding.
However from the very start you do need to think about the demands of learning in a non-traditional way. You might think that taking a WBDL course is easier than taking a programme delivered face-to-face in classrooms – but it isn’t! While WBDL brings opportunity and flexibility it also requires commitment, self-motivation, time-management skills, and reasonable access to, and competence, in the use of internet communication technology. You will be expected to take responsibility for your own learning, to be responsible for independent reading and research, and submitting assignments and report on schedule without a rigid timescale laid down by others; you, working with your supervisors, will design your course of study, it will not be somebody else’s course – it will be yours and you will own it. There will be no hiding at the back of a classroom and just “getting by”. Therefore I encourage you to read through this all of this Handbook thoroughly and thereby start to understand the challenges that you will undertake as you progress through your course of study. Remember this programme has been designed to help ambitious and hardworking engineers throughout the world become the Chartered Engineers of the future; and you are now joining that group. It will not be an easy course, it will deliberately set out to challenge your thinking on many levels and to take you outside your “comfort zone”; but it is a course that will be totally matched to your requirements within your company. If you are wanting to becoming one of the worlds’ best professional engineers are prepared to work very hard with your supervisors and your company in analysing and trying to solve some of the engineering problem that others have not been able to, then in joining this programme you have done the right thing. I am looking forward to engaging with you in rigorous discussion and argument about many aspects of engineering, and I wish you an enjoyable and very rewarding learning experience that will lead to you achieving your goals.
For ease of use this handbook is split into sections, each deals with a specific topic area, however it is important to note that in practice many areas will overlap, and therefore there will be by necessity a repeating of information in different sections. The handbook is a dynamic part of the programme and it will change and evolve each year. As a result it will be re-issued annually on 1st January and identified by the year of its issue. Please ensure that you always have the latest version.
Bill Glew
MSc Professional Engineering Programme Director
Aston University
Founded in 1895 and a University since 1966, Aston is a long established research-led University known for its teaching quality, relevant research and strong links to industry, government and commerce. Aston is situated in the centre of Birmingham, a city which is home to over 50,000 students, and hence a city for education and one of Europe’s liveliest and most welcoming.. Based only 10 minutes from the city cemtre the single friendly and safe 40 acre campus houses all the University's academic, social and accommodation facilities. Aston offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes, and also works with the public and private sectors to develop tailored Continuing Professional Development and Degree programmes.
At the heart of Aston University’s strategy there are five major aims to inspire learning:
Creating, cultivating and transferring knowledge through high quality teaching and research.
Responding quickly and flexibly to the needs of society with knowledge that is relevant and accessible.
Enabling people to achieve their intellectual potential and fostering ethical, responsible, sustainable citizenship.
Working effectively together in a welcoming, nurturing and inspiring community.
Developing effective organisations, communities and economies in our region and extending this influence nationally and internationally.
Additionly Aston has recognised the importance of business engagement and to this end the university has within its senior management team a Pro-Vice Chancellor for business and community engagement. This Programme forms one part of our global business engagement strategy.
The Programme within the University Structure
The MSc Professional Engineering was developed as part of a Government funded initiative in partnership with the UK’s Engineering Council (EC). It is a collaborative venture with other universities, and a number of Professional Engineering Institutions (PEIs), under the direction of a national steering committee, chaired by the EC. The pilot programme started in 2008 and the first graduates from that course have now graduated and achieved CEng status, proving that the mechanism works successfully. Members of the Aston University team have been involved in the project since the very beginning and in April 2010 Aston University started their own programme, this the MSc Professional Engineering course you have started on. We have developed our version of it based on the experiences gained from the pilot programmes started by the Engineering Council back in 2008 and so we now have a much improved version of the programme designed to enhance your learning and professional development to the highest level possible. Within Aston University the course is run by the School of Engineering and Applied Science, but, because of the multidisciplinary nature of the course it is not directly attached to any discipline specific department, unlike the School’s other courses. This independence has allowed the development of the course so that it can be adapted easily and quickly to meet the unique needs of engineers from all types of industry, from all technical disciplines, from all age groups, all backgrounds and all geographies. It is one of the leading courses of a new range being developed here at Aston, and at other world leading universities, to ensure that higher education and continuing professional development at are the forefront of innovation in the 21st global century. To ensure that you, the engineers on this course, get the best support possible we collaborate with all the departments within the School of Engineering and Applied Science to provide academic and professional supervisors experienced and qualified in the subject matter relevant to your work environment. We also collaborate with the other Schools in Aston University to widen the type and the extent of support you will get, and as well as our collaboration with other UK universities we are also starting to collaborate with the best like-minded universities in a number of other countries so we can ensure that wherever engineers are in the world they will be able to access the opportunities this course makes available.
Although it is so different from all the other courses run by the School, the MSc Professional Engineering course, does, of course, conform to all the quality assurance requirements of Aston University and has the full support of all the University’s resources, and is seen by the senior management team as a exciting development in the university’s portfolio of educational provision.
Engineers who successfully complete the programme will be awarded an MSc Professional Engineer, as set out in the University’s General Regulations for Postgraduates Degrees, included at Appendix A of this Handbook.
The Handbook is to provide you with an introduction to your programme. It tells you what we expect from you during your studies and what you can expect from us in terms of tuition, help and encouragement. Please read this document and ensure that you keep it safe for future reference. If anything is unclear then please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Carol Winder, the Programme Administrator, or Bill Glew, the Programme Director.
GENERAL PROGRAMME INFORMATION
The MSc Professional Engineering programme is one part of an Engineering Council project to widen accessibility to professional status for working engineers.
The Engineering Council is the UK regulatory body for the engineering profession. It holds a national registers of 235,000 Chartered Engineers (CEng), Incorporated Engineers (IEng), Engineering Technicians (EngTech) and Information and Communications Technology Technicians (ICTTech). The Engineering Council sets and maintains the internationally recognised standards of professional competence and ethics that govern the award and retention of these titles. This ensures that employers, government and wider society - both in the UK and overseas - can have confidence in the knowledge, experience and commitment of registrants. Their website can be found at http://www.engc.org.uk/, and the webpage that relates to the MSc Professional Engineering project, which they call “EngineeringGateways”, can be found at http://www.engc.org.uk/engineering-gateways. This webpage gives the latest news and developments associated with the project and includes links to the various Engineering Council documents that specify the MSc Professional Engineering programme requirements. As of January 2012 the fourteen Professional Engineering Institutions (PEIs) participating in the are as follows, with more likely to join in future.
· British Computer Society (BCS) http://www.bcs.org/