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Module

CEG8110 : Project Skills and Professional Development (Inactive)

  • Inactive for Year: 2024/25
  • Module Leader(s): Professor Adam Jarvis
  • Lecturer: Professor Russell Davenport, Dr Nathan Forsythe
  • Owning School: Engineering
  • Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Semester 2 Credit Value: 10
ECTS Credits: 5.0
European Credit Transfer System

Aims

The aim of this module is to focus the students on employability skills and professional development throughout the Environmental Engineering MSc programme, and to prepare students for graduate progression to professional status of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) or similar professional bodies.

Outline Of Syllabus

The module will run in block mode in Semester 2. Attendance at School seminars is also a requirement of the module, and industrial speakers (often CIWEM members) will contribute several sessions.

Formal training sessions will be held on core skills such as oral presentation, posters, critical writing, literature searching, plagiarism, data presentation and statistics, and risk assessment. Many of these skills will be further developed and assessed in other modules, particularly CEG8198 (MSc Project and Dissertation in Environmental Engineering), while oral presentation and poster presentation skills will be specifically assessed in this module.

Using the technical content of their dissertation projects as the basis, students will be required to deliver a 15 minute oral presentation to an audience of students and staff and will also produce an A1 poster for an end of year conference event in Semester 3.

Students will be required to record and reflect on their professional development both within and outside the programme, and consider their route to full membership of a professional institution, through the completion of an evidence-based Professional Portfolio aligned to CIWEM competences.

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities
Category Activity Number Length Student Hours Comment
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesLecture31:003:003 x 1.0 hr PiP statistics lectures.
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesLecture11:001:00PiP lecture on “professional competences” and field work risks & hazards.
Guided Independent StudyAssessment preparation and completion125:0025:00Statistical analysis of data and preparing of poster to report results (Assignment 2)
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesLecture101:0010:00Attendance guest speakers/seminars (learning requirement not part of module) PIP
Guided Independent StudyAssessment preparation and completion125:0025:00Professional portfolio preparation (Assignment 1)
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesLecture31:003:003x1hr lectures on poster/oral presentations, prep risk assessments, & other statistical methods.
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesPractical13:003:00PiP statistics workshop in PC Cluster
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesWorkshops22:004:002x2hr professional writing workshops on reports and papers, and dissertation writing.
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesWorkshops12:002:00PiP “meet graduates and employers” workshop. PIP or synchronous online, as needed
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesDrop-in/surgery13:003:00PiP drop-in surgery in PC Cluster to support performing Assignment 2
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesDrop-in/surgery11:001:00PiP tutorial on completing professional portfolio.
Guided Independent StudyIndependent study201:0020:00Background reading and independent reflection
Total100:00
Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Staff & guest speaker sessions (with CIWEM/industrial speakers) will introduce and develop learning outcomes 1-3. Training workshops and a computer practical will be used to introduce and develop learning outcome 4. Learning outcome 5 will be introduced in training workshops and guest speaker sessions, and further developed in group discussion and independent reflection in the progressive process of completing the Professional Portfolio. Prior to the module and soon after the start of their MSc programme, students will be introduced to CIWEM, actively encouraged to join as student members and the module and Professional Portfolio will be explained. A session on plagiarism will also be delivered early in Semester 2 and reinforced again during the block teaching week.

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Other Assessment
Description Semester When Set Percentage Comment
Portfolio2M50Professional Portfolio document
Oral Examination2M50Poster presentation based on progress with dissertation project
Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Learning outcomes 1-3 and 5 are collectively assessed by the Professional Portfolio of evidence that the students are required to progressively complete throughout their programme.

Many of these core skills within Learning Outcome 4 will be further developed and assessed in other modules, particularly CEG8198 (MSc Project and Dissertation in Environmental Engineering). Poster presentation skills will be assessed in CEG8110, whereas oral presentation skills will be assessed in CEG8198 as part of the dissertation assesment.

Reading Lists

Timetable