Unit information: Advanced Practical Skills for Chemical Physics in 2021/22

Unit name	Advanced Practical Skills for Chemical Physics
Unit code	CHEM30008
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Professor. Fox
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	CHEM20370, CHEM20190, CHEM20220
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Chemistry
Faculty	Faculty of Science

Description including Unit Aims

This unit develops the practical chemistry skills introduced in CHEM20220 to expand that essential base of practical chemistry into this more advanced level of study. The unit covers the main areas of chemistry with experiments based on inorganic, materials, physical, theoretical and analytical chemistry.

The unit provides training in practical chemistry and literature research in preparation for a research project, a career as a professional chemical-physicist, or in an area of employment requiring the skills of scientific reasoning, critical evaluation and numeracy. This course aims to provide an advanced understanding and knowledge of the main areas of practical chemistry, reinforcing and building on year-2 material and laying the basis to enable progress to independent laboratory work in later years. Students face challenging experiments, learn to research and choose appropriate techniques for a given problem and work independently, managing their own time.

Intended Learning Outcomes

• Advanced aspects of all relevant of the subject with increasing emphasis on topics at the frontiers of the subject.
• Practical training in research methods through supervised work.
• The ability to manage their own learning,
• Independent learning through the use of scholarly reviews and primary sources (for example, refereed research articles and/or original materials appropriate to the discipline).
• Present complex issues to others through written reports
• Develop communication skills through written reports
• Employ and carry out complex practical operations and techniques
• Critically evaluate arguments, assumptions, abstract concepts and data (that may be incomplete), to make judgements, and to frame appropriate questions to achieve a solution - or identify a range of solutions - to a problem
• Able to take decisions in a responsible and professional manner
• Develop time management and efficiency skills
• Report writing skills
• Make appropriate use of information and communication technology resources
• The qualities and transferable skills necessary for employment requiring:
  • the exercise of initiative and personal responsibility
  • decision-making in complex and unpredictable contexts

Teaching Information

Supervised practical classes and independent study. The Dynamic Laboratory Manual provides important e-learning resources in advance of practical sessions. Students who either begin or pursue 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.

Assessment Information

Students will be assessed by continuous summative assessment of coursework of two kinds:

Data summaries, designed to show that an experiment has been successfully carried out and that the student understands the results Full reports, designed to show the marker that the experiment has been successfully carried out and that the student understands it, can place it within the wider Chemistry context and can critically evaluate the results

To receive credit for this unit, students must make a reasonable attempt at every aspect of the teaching and assessment, including pre- and post-laboratory work, practical experiments, formal reports and presentations, group-working and any workshop activities. Failure to do so may result in credit being withheld, even if the overall mark is above the pass mark for the unit. 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. CHEM30008).

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 Faculty 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. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.