Mental Health FdSc

Teaching

You are taught through a combination of interactive workshops, lectures and seminars.

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.

Each work-based learning module requires the completion of a minimum of 150 hours of work-based learning. Students will identify and apply for placement in an area of relevant practice that interests them. 

The timing of practice-based learning will allow for some flexibility, although it is essential that certain parameters are met to ensure opportunities to link university-based learning to practice, facilitate reflection on work-based learning and ensure that assessment deadlines can be met.

Meetings with personal academic tutors are scheduled on at least four occasions in the first year and three occasions in each of the other years of a course. Additional support is available from your module tutors, Student Services and Library Services.

Contact time

In a typical week, students will have around 10 hours of contact teaching, of this, 7 hours will be delivered on-campus and 3 hours will be delivered online. The precise contact hours will depend on the optional modules selected and in the final year you will normally have slightly less contact time in order to complete more independent study. 

A minimum of 7 hours per week in a placement, work-based learning setting is also part of your learning contact time.

In a typical week, for part-time student studying 60 credits, they will have around 4 hours of contact teaching, of this, 3-4 hours will be delivered on-campus and 1-2 hours will be delivered online.

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

• Lectures and seminars
• Workshops
• Group work

Online contact hours will be structured around:

• Group tutorials based on focused activities
• Assessment workshops
• Problem based learning
• Skills development workshops

Independent self-study

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

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. 

Duration

The Foundation Degree in Mental Health runs over 2 years full time. The Certificate in Higher Education (Mental Health) is 1-year full time.

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 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 colleges. You can learn more about the staff by visiting our staff profiles.  For students studying at partner colleges, information on teaching staff will be made available at induction.

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

• Learning material
• Case study
• Essay
• Resource
• Group presentation

Year 2

• Critical paper
• Individual presentation
• Case study
• Essay
• Report

Feedback

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 personal academic tutors and module tutors as appropriate.

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

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.