| Unit name | Postgraduate Dynamic Laboratory Manual |
|---|---|
| Unit code | CHEMM5003 |
| Credit points | 10 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52) |
| Unit director | Professor. Booker-Milburn |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | School of Chemistry |
| Faculty | Faculty of Science |
This is a compulsory unit for the DTC students to undertake as part of the 6-month PACT course. This unit will comprise of a novel postgraduate Dynamic Laboratory Manual is that will enable students to carry out an interactive, virtual version of an essential, often complex, experimental technique before experiencing it in the laboratory. The simulations, together with online tutorials for self-learning, have built-in responses to common errors of technique, allowing students to learn from mistakes rapidly and effectively. This approach enables the students to gain a much deeper understanding of an experiment before they carry it out for real. By the end of the PACT course, students will have physically carried out aminimum of 4 pgDLM-supported ('real') experiments in the lab.
The reports and viva voce should demonstrate that the student has obtained a real understanding of subject matter that is beyond their prior experience. The supervisors and 2nd assessors will be looking for real evidence that students have absorbed the new techniques and have become practically adept and independent.
Virtual experiments delivered online by pgDLM - each student will have personal laptop provided. Real versions of experiments carried out in staff research laboratories. Students to undertake pgDLM activities at their own convenience and be responsible for management of their own time.
Students will carry out a minimum of 3-DLM experiments online and then arrange with a member of staff to carry out the real version in the research laboratory (where relevant). Students will be assessed on a P/F basis on the work carried out (online/lab/written where appropriate). The assessments and comments will then be available to the Management Team for the Scientific Health Check for the 6-month progress decision. The pgDLM work (in conjunction with the RBS reports) will be used as the basis for a progress viva voce by two members of staff at the end of PACT. The viva voce report will then be used with the course marks for the Management Team to make a progress decision (either progress to chosen PhD project or transfer onto MRes).
Detailed references and reading will be provided by an academic member responsible for each DLM entry.
