2024/25 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

ELU0040 Academic Study Skills for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths

40 creditsClass Size: 200

Module manager: Roya Alimalayeri
Email: R.Alimalayeri@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2024/25

This module is mutually exclusive with

ELU0038	Academic Study Skills
ELU0039	Academic Study Skills for Dentistry, Medicine and Healthcare
ELU0041	Academic Study Skills for Business

Module replaces

ELU0035

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Module summary

This module is designed as part of your international foundation year programme the successful completion of which permits progression onto STEM undergraduate programmes. The main emphasis of the module is the development of academic skills needed to be successful on a STEM undergraduate programme.

Objectives

This module is designed to prepare students with the necessary English language and academic study skills required for undergraduate study in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) related degree programmes. It provides training in how to produce written academic coursework; how to give oral presentations and participate effectively in seminars and tutorials appropriately in English; how to conduct short research exercises and think critically about sources; and how to access and use relevant University services. It also provides students with awareness of the conventions, register and vocabulary of academic English (both generic and subject-specific) and techniques for independent language learning.

The module introduces students to Academic Integrity and to the university’s standards and expectations regarding this. Students will take the Academic Integrity Test and adhere to these standards throughout their studies on this module (and transfer these skills to all their modules) which will be assessed via the extended writing assessment.

Learning outcomes
It is expected that by the end of this module students should be able to:
1. navigate, annotate, summarise and evaluate appropriate authentic sources for academic purposes in line with university standards regarding academic integrity.
2. display critical thinking skills in a range of spoken and written genres
3. select and evaluate spoken and written sources for use in an extended piece of genre-specific writing, applying the appropriate written conventions, and for these to be used in line with university standards regarding academic integrity.
4. listen actively and respond clearly, concisely and accurately using discipline- specific language.
5. communicate ideas clearly and concisely in both spoken and written genres with minimal interference from grammatical, lexical or pronunciation errors.
6. Reflect on learning experiences.

Syllabus

Students will be taught academic study skills through the following topics:
- What is STEM? Why to do it and how: content, language, teaching and assessment methods
- STEM Innovations and impact (historical).
- STEM responses to Global issues (current and future impacts)

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Seminar	66	2.00	132.00
Independent online learning hours			55.00
Private study hours			213.00
Total Contact hours			132.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			400.00

Private study

Private study tasks relate to the content of the course and the preparation of the assessed pieces of coursework. Students are expected to develop knowledge of content relating to the overall topic of 'Contemporary Global Issues', which is divided into a series of short projects.
Private study:
Annotated Bibliography: 45 hours
Seminar: 40 hours
Lab. Report: 64 hours
Presentation (with abstract): 64 hours

Independent learning tasks are designed to provide students with an opportunity to develop their skills as independent learners and to develop their English language skills and academic study skills. Tutors can provide guidance when needed.

Independent learning is expected each week as students must spend approximately 2.5 hours per week preparing for their classes and completing short follow-up tasks in order to practise skills introduced in the taught sessions (total 55 hours)

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Students' progress is monitored on a continuous basis by each tutor through their participation in class activities and through the grading of assessed pieces of work. Students are provided with detailed feedback about each piece of work and are provided with an opportunity to attend regular 1:1 consultations with their tutors. For the written assignments, students are required to submit a draft version. The tutor provides feedback to the student about the draft. For the oral assessments, students will participate in a group presentation and practice seminar, for which they will receive formative feedback in preparation for their assessed individual presentation and seminar discussion.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Report	A lab report of up to 1,000 words	30.00
Presentation	Individual oral presentation (10 mins) + accompanying abstract of up to 250 words	30.00
Assignment	Annotated Bibliography of up to 1,000 words	20.00
Group Discussion	Student-led seminar discussion of 15/20 minutes	20.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

In addition, in order to meet the learning outcomes students need to complete and pass all assessments on this module in order to pass the module (where the pass mark for this module has been set at 40).

Reading list

There is no reading list for this module

Last updated: 29/04/2024 16:13:38

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