LD5010 - London Campus Undergraduate Professional Practice

You will learn through a model that combines access to industry-leading technical and academic knowledge base, online support and engagement with your module tutors. This learning model is designed to enable you to rapidly develop new skills and knowledge in your subject specialisms and then apply them to technical real world business challenges.

Workshop/bootcamp sessions will be delivered and supported by on-line learning materials and activities. The workshop/bootcamp skills based training activities will cover topics within your area of specialism. You will also be given problem scenarios and asked to design solutions and gain feedback from tutors as well as peers. Thus, you will very much use ‘learn by doing’ approach in this module.

An initial workshop will introduce you to the module, assessment and core topics. Subsequent to this you will be guided through a range of subject specific skills training via workshops over the period of the module. Key messages from these sessions will also be available by online learning materials including video/podcast to support your learning outside of the classroom.

The workshops will be used to enable you to add depth and breadth to the concepts learned during the individual learning undertaken in a relevant technical area. Through the activities undertaken within these workshops and by engaging with relevant literature and supporting materials you will gain skills that help with your ongoing professional development. Workshops will help you to know and understand the following:

• Methods of conducting a skills analysis
• Development of a professional development plan
• Reflective frameworks for analysis
• Other technical skills aligned to the technical training identified on an individual basis

In order to develop your capacity and confidence as an effective learner, you will engage in directed learning. This will be supported by tutor-guided activities reflected in a learning plan, including prompted reading, activities to undertake and questions to address. However, you will also extend to advanced independent study which entails reading beyond the learning materials/reading list provided, and reflecting on its potential relevance for your own development.

The virtual learning environment will be used to encourage individual and group contributions to debate on key topics and issues. Materials and discussion group work will be available on the e-learning portal to support and engage you. To support and embed the learning, provide the opportunity for reflection, and encourage effective communication, you will engage in discussion forums via the University’s e-Learning platform. This will include posing and answering topic specific questions posed by the tutor and peer group and providing peer group formative feedback. You will also be encouraged to use email and discussion board tool to clarify issues.

For those of your studying in part time mode your work experience will form a significant element of your learning. This will include weekly directed activities outlined in the module learning plan. These activities will enable reflection on learning from taught sessions and subsequent application through research into practice. Your tutors will use these activities as a key element of discussion during the taught sessions and feedback review meetings.

A range of approaches are adopted to accelerate your learning in this module.

During the first week of this module, you will receive information about the module and Teaching & Learning Plan. The teaching and learning plan (TLP) sets out
• Learning outcomes and overall module and programme aims
• Teaching, learning and assessment strategy
• Teaching schedule
• Directed reading references (text and journals) and core texts for the module
• References to data sources and details of lab activities

Further supporting your learning journey, the first unit of this module will discuss the rational and learning objectives of this module and how it contributes to your overall programme goals. The formative and summative assessment strategy will be outlined as will a refresher on key academic skills, expectations of lab work and resources critical to your success as a learner on this module. This session will also be available as a video/podcast for further reinforcement.

During this module, your module tutor will provide academic support including:
• Delivering lectures and seminars
• Providing guidance in relation to assignments
• Development of key resources including lab activities, made available through the VLE
• Assessing assignments and assessing or reviewing any other agreed summative or formative outputs as appropriate

E-Reading Lists
The module will also have an e-reading list which directs learners to specific reading for each session. This includes direct access to repositories, journal articles and other academic sources. You will also be provided with access to a significant set academic research sources via the Northumbria University library portal.
You will also have opportunities to receive formative feedback from your tutor in response to opinions you express and issues you raise during workshop sessions and face-to-face or online tutorials. These formative feedback sessions are formally scheduled at key points throughout the module.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
1. Develop a well justified professional development plan to enable the undertaking of a professional development activity related with your subject specialism.
2. Reflect on the application of technical learning against using appropriate frameworks.

Intellectual / Professional Skills & Abilities:
3. Demonstrate critical awareness and self-direction of your own learning by identifying and managing tasks individually or as a member of a team in order to achieve your personal goals.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
4. Demonstrate self awareness of your personal development.

This module uses a subject-based assessment approach, encouraging or directly enabling you to bring your career context or learning experience into the module.

Formative Assessment
Formative assessment of your skills, knowledge and understanding, as demonstrated in your submitted assignments, is a key component of the assessment strategy. It forms an integral part of the formal scheduled teaching programme utilising lectures and practical labs to enable you to use ‘learn by doing’ approach. To foster engagement with your tutors and peers, asynchronous discussion board on the VLE will be used. Formative assessment feedback on your seminar activities will additionally enable you to undertake self-reflection and to include newly-acquired knowledge and practical skills to refine your tutor-guided and self-directed independent learning and enhance your performance during final summative assessment.

Summative Assessment
You will be summatively assessed by a 2000 words assessed portfolio along with artefacts which will include:
• Discussion of your Professional Practice activity regarding the application of appropriate skills, technical knowledge and disposition. This is to include detailing of the use of the acquired knowledge in development of a system/artefact to address an identified business challenge or development of your professional competence through skills training.
• A review of literature relating to the computing with subject specialist based reflective practice.
• A written analysis of the implementation, and recommendations for professional practice improvement as a result of this CPD.

You will be provided with written, electronic, feedback on your work which you can use to improve your future assessments in this subject area.

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This module is designed to develop your self-guided learning skills and knowledge and develop your own professional development needs in the context of your degree in Computing and Technology with subject specialisms of your choice. Computing and Digital Technologies is a wide field in which professionals can find themselves working within a number of different roles and specialisms each requiring a specific technical skillset. This module builds on the skills developed so far to provide an opportunity for you to tailor the learning conducted within level 5 of your programme towards acquiring those skills that will help you develop towards becoming a professional specialising in Computing with Technology/Computing with Cybersecurity Technology/Computing with Data Science and Big Data Technology/Computing with AI technology/Computing with IT Management.

Working with the module academic team, your personal tutor, academic supervisor and careers team, you will conduct a skills analysis to identify relevant training that can be undertaken within the area of your subject specialism. This training can take a number of forms, be it:

• Technical training delivered within the class environment or
• Structured online learning or
• A mini project
• Or, another appropriate form approved by the academic team.

Following completion of the training, the acquired skills will be focused towards a specified project or business challenge.