Computing Foundation Year

Teaching

You are taught through a combination of interactive workshops, lectures, seminars, laboratory sessions, practical activities etc. Interactive workshops take a variety of formats and are intended to enable the application of learning through discussion and small group activities.  Seminars enable the discussion and development of understanding of topics covered in lectures, and laboratory practical sessions are focused on developing subject-specific skills and applied individual and group project work. 

 In addition, meetings (both individual and group) with personal academic tutors are scheduled throughout the academic year.

The University places emphasis on enabling students to develop the independent learning capabilities that will equip them for lifelong learning and future employment, as well as academic achievement. A mixture of independent study, teaching and academic support from Student Services and Library Services, and also the personal academic tutoring system enables students to reflect on progress and build up a profile of skills, achievements and experiences that will help them to flourish and be successful graduates

Contact time

In a typical week you will have around 12-13 contact hours of teaching. 

Typically class contact time will be structured around:

• Information giving, facilitated discussions, small group work, presentations
• Practical skills – the opportunity to practise group facilitation, presentation, communication and listening skills
• Visiting speakers and opportunities to visit other settings are regular features of the course.
• Most of the computing seminars take place in state-of-the-art PC labs using a variety of software specific to each module

Independent self study

In addition to the contact time, full-time students are expected to undertake around 24 hours of personal self-study per week, plus additional preparation for assessments. Typically, this will involve meeting with individual tutors to discuss progress and feedback, completing online activities, reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking research in the library and online. In addition to this, students will spend time sharing ideas with fellow students, taking part in extracurricular learning activities.

Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent learning facilities, including the Hive and library resources, the virtual learning environment, and extensive electronic learning resources as well as our network of employers and entrepreneurs.

Duration

1 year full-time or 2 years part-time

Timetables

Timetables are normally available one month before registration. Please note that whilst we try to be as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week; and some classes can be scheduled in the evenings.

Teaching staff

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. The team includes senior academics, professional practitioners with industry experience, and visiting speakers with specialised expertise.  Teaching is informed by the research and consultancy work carried out by staff and you can learn more about the staff by visiting our staff profiles.

Assessment

All modules have both formative and summative assessment elements. Formative assessment allows tutors and students to recognise strengths and weaknesses in learning and to address those issues immediately. Summative assessments are graded and count towards the final module grade, and they are assessed against the specific module learning outcomes.

Typically, 30 credit modules will have 2-3 assessments

Throughout the year the concept of continuous assessment and/or building up expertise in different assessment types applies. A variety of assessment types(report, portfolios, presentation, and case study) are designed to suit different learning styles

Different types of employability skills are embedded in all modules.

Programme specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest programme specification document.