Health and Social Care FdSc

Teaching

You are taught through a combination of interactive workshops, lectures, seminars, practice skills and simulated learning opportunities, directed study, group projects and self-study packages. 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 are focused on developing subject-specific skills and applied individual and group work.

Practice

Work-based learning is a defining feature of the Foundation Degree.

You are encouraged to source your own placement based on existing experience or employment; practice areas of interest; practice areas that may support future plans and study. A unique feature of this course is that your placements are not geographically limited to the areas close to the university or location of study. 

Each year contains a work-based learning module that will provide a theoretical underpinning for practice. 

Year 1

You will follow work-based learning practices that will help you to prepare for professional practice. For this module, a minimum of 150 hours of work-based learning are required within an appropriate practice setting.You will be responsible for identifying a suitable placement. 

The taught session will focus on presenting case study scenarios, making connections with requirements from other professional bodies to assist with progression and helping students develop a professional identity.

Year 2

The work-based learning module contains the same requirement for practice hours (minimum of 150 hours), however the focus for this module is to explore and develop employability skills such as teamworking, problem-solving, project management and the ability to demonstrate an evidence-based approach to practice.

The course team recommend a minimum of 1 day per week in practice for the duration of the placement throughout the academic year in order to relate theory to and with practice. Work-based learning will be shaped by the learning outcomes for the modules, assessment requirements and objectives arising from students’ personal development plans.

Contact time

In a typical week, you will normally have 10 hours of contact teaching, of this, 7 hours will be delivered on-campus and 3 hours synchronous will be delivered online.

At our partner colleges, a part-time student studying 60 credits per year, students, in a typical week will have around 4 hours of contact teaching of this, 2 hours will be delivered on-campus and 1 hour will be delivered online. N.B. This depends upon the modules studied each year.

Typically, on-campus contact time will be structured around:

• Lectures and seminars
• Workshops
• Group work

Online contact hours will be structured around:

• Tutorials
• Assessment workshops
• Problem-based learning.
• Skills development workshops

The delivery model of on-campus and online contact hours may vary across different partners. An example of two delivery models could include: At University of Worcester on-campus contact hours would normally be delivered over 2 days, with delivery of online contact hours taking place across 1 afternoon and 1 evening. However, at partner organisations, on-campus contact teaching hours may be delivered on one day with online contact teaching hours delivered across the week.

Independent self-study

In addition to the contact time, you will be expected to undertake around 18 hours of personal self-study per week. Typically, this will involve completing online activities, reading journal articles and books, watching selected videos, working through example problems, working on individual and group projects, undertaking research in the library and online, and preparing assignments and presentations.

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. Students studying at partner colleges will also have access to an extensive range of study material.

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.

Assessment

The course provides opportunities to test understanding and learning informally through the completion of practice or ‘formative’ assignments. 

Each module has one or more formal or ‘summative’ assessments which are graded and count towards the overall module grade.  Assessment methods include written examinations and a range of coursework assessments such as essays, reports, portfolios, presentations and a final year placement project.

The precise assessment requirements for an individual student in an academic year will vary according to the mandatory and optional modules taken, but a typical formal summative assessment pattern for each year of the course is:

Year 1

• Communication Resource
• Case Study Essay
• Group Presentation
• Written Essay
• Work-based Learning Portfolio  
• Patchwork (quizzes and written work)

Year 2

• Written Essay
• Literature Review
• Reflective Essay
• Individual Project in the Workplace
• Report

You will receive feedback on practice assessments and on formal assessments undertaken by coursework. Feedback on examination performance is available upon request from the module leader. Feedback is intended to support learning and you are encouraged to discuss it with module tutors as appropriate.

We aim to provide you with feedback on formal course work assessments within 20 working days of hand-in.  

Duration

• The Foundation Degree in Health and social care runs over 2 years full time.
• The Certificate in Higher Education for Health and social care is 1 year full time.

Part-time study is available; please contact the admissions tutor to discuss this option.

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 and work-based learning tutors all with industry experience.

Teaching is informed by the research and consultancy, and (as at February 2021) 80% per cent of lecturers have a higher education teaching qualification or are Fellows of the Higher Education Academy. This may differ for students studying at partner collages.

You can learn more about the staff by visiting our staff profiles.

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.