| Unit name | Physics Education |
|---|---|
| Unit code | PHYS30031 |
| Credit points | 40 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Greenland |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
Core physics at levels 4 and 5, physics laboratory units at level 4 and 5 |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
N/A |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
PHYS30034 Physics Research Project, PHYS30032 Industrial Group Project |
| School/department | School of Physics |
| Faculty | Faculty of Science |
Why is this unit important?
This unit is a capstone unit for your degree; it is the opportunity to put all of your physics knowledge to bear on an educational partnership with a local school. You will gain experience of physics education through a teaching and mentoring scheme with science teachers at the school and identify ways in which your physics expertise can enhance the learning environment for pupils at the school. Fundamentally, it is your opportunity to validate your development as a physics educator and to feel part of the wider Physics community.
We will also develop key skills in employability to support you in recognising your transferrable skills, identifying areas for development, and in presenting yourself at interview.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
As a capstone unit, everything you have done in the course of your studies will be relevant to your educational experience; your technical laboratory knowledge, your coding skills, your ability to search for and to find appropriate literature and data to support your research findings are all clear skills which will be applied. While this unit will also introduce you to the field of educational literature, the reasoning skills and the physics intuition you have developed through the study of all other units in your programme are also relevant.
It is often difficult to identify how the skills you have developed in the course of studying a Physics degree will fit into the wider world of employment, and through the course of developing your research skills we will support you in developing awareness of the applicability of your skills.
An overview of content
While there are no formal lectures associated with this unit, you will be provided with an initial one-day training course to give you an overview of working with young people and the level of science you will be participating in. An interview system will be used to match you with appropriate schools and a teacher in the local area. As part of your placement, you will identify an educational need within the school and work with the teacher to fulfil this and enhance the educational experience for young people.
You will also be given introductions to library structures, literature searching and the Science Citations Index to help you in developing your research skills. You will hone these through a self-paced active learning exercise to produce a literature review on your research project.
As there are no defined ‘hours of work’ for a project, please note the University Workload Statement; this 40cp unit should equate to around 400 hours of work to complete (from start of work to the end of assessment).
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
The project is a substantial exercise in which you will learn and demonstrate initiative and independence in an educational setting, bringing your diversity of knowledge and skills to bear on enhancing the experience for learners. You will gain insight into tackling real problems rather than simply assimilating knowledge, and you will have an opportunity to realise your place in Physics, recognising the application of your skills in an educational setting.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this unit, you will be able to:
The unit is organised through our on-line learning environment (OLE). This is where you will find information about the unit, schedules for assessment as well as for the personal development planning and other learning resources.
While there will be in-person masterclasses to support some of the content, it is expected that students individually practice the skills introduced in these masterclasses to support their independent group work in the context of the unit.
Some sessions may require preparation beforehand (reading a journal article, textbook chapter, watching a video etc.); where these materials are provided, you should aim to spend around one hour of preparation time for one hour of face-to-face teaching. This will allow you to make the most of class discussions and activities.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Throughout the project you will receive direction from the unit director in School of Physics who will give advice feedback as appropriate to the project. The quantity and nature of contact will vary depending on the nature of the project, however you are expected to meet with your supervisor at regular intervals. Your feedback will be self-directed; if there are areas in which you feel you need feedback, you should discuss this with your nominated academic. You will give an interim presentation on which you will receive specific feedback on presentation skills.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
The assessment of this unit is varied, reflecting the variety of work you will do within the scope of the project.
Assessment breakdown:
When assessment does not go to plan:
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. PHYS30031).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
