KB7061 - Sustainable Development for Engineering Practitioners

Active learning sessions will allow you to engage with and appraise specialist material and assist you in exploring and critiquing key concepts and topics within the module. Sessions will involve a combination of content delivery and practical learning exercises to enable you to apply your learning to complex and authentic engineering problems. A problem-solving focused curriculum will allow you to explore and analyse solutions to complex challenges where wide-ranging and conflicting constraints require innovative discovery and enterprise. Learning activities will enable students to work collaboratively and practice and reflect upon the effectiveness of teamwork and communication skills, and the facilitation of creative thinking approaches to solve open-ended engineering problems.

During your active learning sessions, academic support will be available to facilitate your exploration of the problem-solving activities. Formative feedback will be provided by the module team, including answering student queries and providing guidance concerning the module such as assessments and your academic progress. The electronic learning platform (eLP) provides a comprehensive resource for integrated learning incorporating learning materials and reading lists that will facilitate directed and self-directed learning. Contact with academic tutors and your peers outside formal teaching hours is encouraged through dedicated ‘office hours’, discussion boards and messaging systems within the eLP. Professional support staff, such as Ask4Help, provide the first point of contact for a range of queries, including, for example, those concerning assessment submission, late submission/extensions, and other administrative issues.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

Knowledge and Understanding:

MLO1. Select and critically evaluate technical literature and other sources of information to solve complex problems related to sustainable development.



Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:

MLO2. Apply an integrated or systems approach to the solution of complex problems with a sustainable perspective.

MLO3. Use a risk management process to identify, evaluate and mitigate risks (the effects of uncertainty) associated with a particular sustainable development project or activity.



Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):

MLO4. Evaluate the environmental and societal impact of solutions to complex problems (to include the entire life cycle of a product or process) and minimise adverse impacts.

MLO5. Identify and analyse ethical concerns and make reasoned ethical choices informed by professional codes of conduct pertinent to practicing engineers.

Formative Assessment

Academic staff on the module will assess you in a formative manner to help build your confidence and highlight any misunderstandings you may have of the theoretical and professional concepts presented in the module. Your formative feedback will be given to you either verbally by academic staff on the module during formally scheduled teaching sessions or using the eLP. Your formative feedback aims to help you learn and prepare for the submission of your summative assessment.



Summative Assessment

Academic staff on the module will assess you in a summative manner by two pieces of assessment

Component 1 to assess your knowledge and understanding of sustainable development, applying integrated or systems approaches including risk management to complex problems with a sustainable perspective

(MLOs 1-3) through completing an industry compatible written submission.

Component 2, a timed electronic exam (competency-based challenge task), is used to evaluate your ability to apply entire life cycle thinking to design solutions reflecting ethical concerns and defended with respect to environmental and societal impacts, (MLO 4 & 5).



Feedback will be provided electronically through the eLP or student email within 20 working days of the date of submission. 

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The modern world is facing many challenges due to the actions of mankind including the unsustainable use of energy derived from fossil fuels. This module explores the fundamentals of sustainable and ethical development for engineering practitioners, considering the role and responsibility of the engineer within society. You will consider key elements of sustainable development as they relate to decision making in engineering, for example, considering legislation, economics, energy, materials, and environmental impact. You will be encouraged to explore and interpret information through the application of appropriate knowledge and methodologies to tackle complex problems. Active learning sessions will allow you to engage with and appraise specialist material and assist you in exploring and critiquing key concepts and topics within the module. Sessions will involve practical exercises to enable you to apply your learning to complex and authentic engineering problems. The module utilises the electronic learning platform (eLP) to provide a comprehensive resource for integrated learning incorporating learning materials and reading lists that will facilitate directed and self-directed learning.