| Unit name | Mastery of Chemistry and Education |
|---|---|
| Unit code | CHEMM0031 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Davis |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) | |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Chemistry |
| Faculty | Faculty of Science |
Why is this unit important?
This unit provides you the opportunity to demonstrate the consolidation of your core chemistry knowledge and its application within or beyond academia.
Outside of university, you will have to learn from colleagues and peers, rather than educators, and will have to communicate your specialism to multi-disciplinary teams and non-specialists. Teach What You Know Day is a team exercise which will teach you how to prepare teaching materials, give lectures, lead your peers in a task and think about your chemistry knowledge in a different way. You will be better equipped as a communicator, leader and teacher as a result.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This “Mastery of Chemistry and ….” unit acts as a capstone for the MSci Chemistry programme because it requires an application of not only core academic knowledge, but programme level transferrable skills including communication and team working applied to either innovation or education. Selection of one of these optional variants is required for the MSci Chemistry programme. For the Chemical Physics programmes a bespoke option is offered.
An overview of content
The individual components will draw on knowledge and skills developed in earlier years.
General chemistry: this component will primarily test the fundamental chemical understanding developed in core units across years 1-3 (Building Blocks, Core Concepts, Art of Chemistry).
Education (Teach what you Know Day): the aim of this component is to gain awareness of how chemistry knowledge is communicated clearly to enable learning and information transfer.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
By participating in “Teach what you Know Day” you will gain exposure to teaching, preparing instructional materials, leading a class, working with peers and will be able to demonstrate your mastery of chemistry knowledge and how to communicate it. You will gain a deeper understanding of your area of mastery, insight into how other people think and learn and practice in working with and learning from your peers.
Learning Outcomes
1. Understand the requirements to prepare and deliver educational content.
2. Work collaboratively and creatively in chemistry and wider contexts.
3. Apply and communicate chemical knowledge and understanding in novel contexts.
We aim to use a blended learning approach involving a mixture of asynchronous and synchronous lectures, online resources, individual student led enquiry and team-based student led enquiry.
Teach what you Know Day will comprise the following scheduled activities:
Lecture on teaching, group work on preparing materials, attendance at other group’s lectures and problem classes and giving a lecture and problem class.
General chemistry will primarily involve self-study augmented with 6 one-hour workshops.
Summary of approximate student workload:
Self-study and continuous assessment: 164 hours
Lectures equivalents: 10 hours
Tutorials/workshops: 10 x 2 hours + 6 x 1 hour
Total: 200 hours
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks:
General chemistry: Learning support will be provided by problem sessions (in person or online) which will offer questions that will help students consolidate their previously acquired chemical knowledge.
Teach what you Know Day: Students will meet with the instructor and present their lecture and materials before in a practice session (formative).
Tasks which count towards your unit mark:
The general chemistry component will be assessed by an end-of-year open note exam (50%)
Teach what you Know Day (50%):
Students will choose a topic that they have studied from outside of the core chemistry classes (e.g. in optional units from previous years) and prepare a 25 minute lecture and problem sheets for their peers. They give the lecture and lead the problem session. Assessment will be by:
[a] peer assessment on contribution from their co-student lecturers (33%)
[b] the instructor who will be present to observe and assess the lecture and problem sheets (67%)
When assessment does not go to plan?
Supplementary assessment of this unit is only possible through engagement in the following academic year.
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. CHEMM0031).
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 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.
