Skip to main content

Unit information: Practical Work for Chemical Physics in 2023/24

Unit name Practical Work for Chemical Physics
Unit code CHEM10014
Credit points 10
Level of study C/4
Teaching block(s) Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director Dr. Dennis
Open unit status Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)

None

Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)

None

Units you may not take alongside this one
School/department School of Chemistry
Faculty Faculty of Science

Unit Information

This unit introduces safe and organised working practices within a laboratory environment and also some basic laboratory practical skills and data handling techniques.

Unit aims: To develop in students the first fundamental practical and data handling skills.

Your learning on this unit

By the end of the unit students should be able to:

  1. Competently and safely perform key laboratory skills and procedures.
  2. Correctly measure, record, manipulate and report laboratory data in an appropriate format.
  3. Estimate the errors associated with their measurements.

How you will learn

Practical work both within and without the teaching laboratory, information searching, writing and data-handling tasks, and independent study. The Dynamic Laboratory Manual (DLM) provides important e-learning resource for all of these tasks, using a combination of in-silico simulations, asynchronous activities such as quizzes, videos and forums, and synchronous sessions (which will also be available asynchronously). There will also be opportunities to receive personalised feedback on formative work from tutors, demonstrators and peers. Students who either begin or continue their studies in an online mode should note that it is likely they may be required to complete practical work or alternative activities in person, either during the academic year 2020/21 or subsequently, in order to meet the intended learning outcomes for the unit, prepare them for subsequent units or to satisfy any accreditation requirements.

How you will be assessed

Students will be continuously assessed in practical work and scientific reporting (summative and formative - 100%).

The majority of the work will be formatively assessed, giving the students the chance to learn and develop the skills which they will build upon in later years. At the end of the unit students will then be required to demonstrate their skills by performing assessed experiments, which will be holistically judged against the intended learning outcomes.

Supplementary or resit assessment of this unit is only possible through engagement in the following academic year.

Resources

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. CHEM10014).

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.

Feedback