8. Appendices
8.1 Programme Specification
UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL LANCASHIRE
Programme Specification
This Programme Specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the
programme and the learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected
to achieve and demonstrate if he/she takes full advantage of the learning opportunities that
are provided.
1. Awarding Institution / Body
University of Central Lancashire
2. Teaching Institution and
Location of Delivery
Burnley College
3. University Department/School
School of Engineering
4. External Accreditation
None
5. Title of Final Award
Higher National Certificate in Mechanical &
Manufacturing Engineering
6. Modes of Attendance offered
Part Time
7. UCAS Code
N/A
8. Relevant Subject
Benchmarking Group(s)
QAA Engineering
9. Other external influences
Not applicable
10. Date of production/revision of
this form
February 2014
11. Aims of the Programme
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To provide a sound, intellectually demanding, vocational learning experience for students
so that they can develop the competencies necessary for a range of technical and
management careers in engineering.
To provide flexibility, knowledge, skills and motivation as a basis for progression to
graduate, post-graduate and professional body status.
To develop students’ abilities to consider aspects of problems associated with
engineering principles, applications and techniques through the systematic use of
appropriate methods for analysing, synthesising and evaluating, and to integrate, where
possible these discrete aspects of engineering activity included above.
To develop a range of skills, including communicating, planning, implementing,
appraising and self-development.
To provide programmes of study in specific activities in engineering which are
appropriate to the requirements of national and local industry.
To provide programmes of study which contribute to the student's developing personal,
intellectual and practical skills in addition to fulfilling their vocational needs thereby
improving the students employability.
To provide a programme with sufficient academic content that subsequent awards
represent a level of attainment satisfactory to the engineering profession, industry and
student.
To ensure that the student is aware of the Higher Technician Engineer's responsibilities
to the engineering profession, industry and society.
To develop in students a high level of expertise in a particular field and a broad base of
skill and knowledge from which they can adapt themselves to change.
To create the interest, motivation and intellectual grounding which can provide the basis
for further study.
To utilise the previous training, education and continuing industrial experience wherever
possible, and to relate and interpret such experience in the light of student's studies
To enable the students to appreciate the effects of globalisation in the manufacturing
sector.
A disciplined treatment of the concepts of information technology, pertinent to the fields
of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering.
Application of these concepts to the analysis, design and development of engineering
systems.
Specialist studies in area of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering relevant to the
student's requirements.
12. Learning Outcomes, Teaching, Learning and Assessment Methods
A. Knowledge and Understanding
e.g.
A1. Understand the principles of mechanical and manufacturing engineering
A2. Describe and illustrate the scope, context and significance of the role of operations
management
A3. Identify a range of applications of mechanical and manufacturing engineering
A4. Define the role of an engineer/designer in a multidisciplinary engineering team
Teaching and Learning Methods
Year 1 includes lectures, seminars, individual assignments with a small number of group
assignments. Each week, students spend time in the student workshops in order to develop
direct experience of manufacturing processes.
Year 2 includes individual and team assignments and projects of increasing complexity
some involving the use of software such as Inventor & MasterCam. The Project and Design
modules will develop the students’ understanding of the role of the Engineer in an industrial
and commercial context.
Assessment methods
Year 1 includes workbooks, reports, small assignments and formal examinations.
Year 2 includes reports, oral presentations, group work, individual working, designing,
manufacturing, portfolios and associated commentaries, and the use of technology
associated with design and manufacture such as CAD and operations software.
The assessment scheme includes the flexibility for students to influence the design of their
assignments by suggesting the product/application that they will study
B. Subject-specific skills
e.g.
B1. apply appropriate design, analysis and synthesis skills in engineering
B2. to specify, plan and manage a project
B3. independently develop their own technical proficiencies and skills to solve engineering
problems in the future
B4. apply mechanical and scientific principles to given engineering problems
B5. develop managerial strategies encountered in the workplace
Teaching and Learning Methods
Year 1 involves the introduction of engineering principles, design activity and technology to
be related to range of applications through formal lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshop and
technical activities.
In Year 2 there is an increasing emphasis on integrating the aspects within design from
physical laws to manufacturing organisation and methods through the direct introduction of
work associated with the processes within the Product Design Cycle. Formal lectures,
seminars, individual and team assignments and projects are used together along with work
based assignments.
Assessment methods
Year 1 includes workbooks, reports, oral presentations and small assignments and formal
examinations.
Year 2 includes reports, oral presentations group and individual working. There are a small
number of examinations. Both individual and group presentations are used.
C. Thinking Skills
e.g.
C1. apply appropriate knowledge skills and competences in an engineering context
C2. formulate and produce creative and innovative technical solutions to problems by
applying engineering principles to real and simulated situations
C3 evaluate alternative solutions to engineering problems
C4 recognise the broader aspects of engineering in the business and industrial environment
Teaching and Learning Methods
Year 1 introduces engineering concepts and the use of learning outcomes in the curriculum.
The approach is relatively direct and requires students to decompose engineering (design,
organise and manufacture) and technical problems. Formal lectures supported with
seminars and practical tests are used in the ‘scientific’ modules. The ‘technology’ modules
use a more ‘hands-on’ approach using workshops, drawing rooms, CAD facilities, external
visitor and student presentations.
Year 2 provides increasing integration across the modules – this is particularly so of the
Project and Design modules, which aims to develop thinking skills from all the modules in a
manufacturing engineering context.
Assessment methods
Year 1 includes reports on practical experiments, assignments, formal examinations and
workbooks and drawings.
Year 2 uses broader assessment methods to require students to demonstrate integration
across modules and disciplines and problems. These include formal reports with reflections
on practical tests, designs, and CAD models.
D. Other skills relevant to employability and personal development
e.g.
D1.
communicate technical ideas accurately, persuasively and succinctly in a variety of
appropriate formats.
D2. work independently on significant sized projects relevant to the field
D3. locate, use, and critically evaluate information from a number of sources, including the
use of ILT based information sources
D4. manage resources and time effectively
Teaching and Learning Methods
Teaching and learning methods include lectures, tutorials, laboratory work, directed selfstudy, and assignment research work. As the course progresses, there is greater emphasis
on independent learning, and resource and time management.
Assessment methods
The assessment methods develop as students progress through the course with a change in
the balance from the testing of specific learning outcomes in a direct manner to requiring
students to develop the material used for reflection and commentary in the form of written
reports. This emphasis enables and requires students to develop skills through the
development of the relationship between competences and the work-based environment.
13. Programme Structures*
14. Awards and Credits*
Level
Module
Code
Module Title
Credit
rating
Level 4
BE 1501
Analytical Methods (e)
20
Level 4
BE 1502
Engineering Science (e)
20
Level 4
BE 1401
Mechanical Principles (e)
20
Level 4
BE 1402
CADCAM (op)
20
Level 4
BE 1403
Statistical Process Control
(op)
20
Level 5
BE 2721
Operations Management A
(e)
20
Level 5
BE 2502
Project (e)
20
Level 5
BE 2504
Manufacturing Processes (e)
20
Level 4
BE 1507
Engineering Design (op)
20
Level 4
BE 1404
Project Management (op)
20
Level 4
BE1405
Advanced Material
Technology
20
Higher National Certificate
Mechanical and
Manufacturing
Engineering
Requires 160 credits at level
4 or above.
Including 40 at level 5
e = essential
op = optional
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Delete rows not applicable to this Programme Specification
15. Personal Development Planning
Personal Development Planning (PDP) is:
 Reflection on learning, performance, and achievement
 Planning for personal, educational, and career development.
PDP involves review and reflection involving academic study, extra-curricular activities and
career planning. It results in an understanding and ownership of learning. The student will be
introduced to PDP during tutorial sessions which should be seen as an opportunity to
develop a plan for the whole of the student’s time at University.
Since learning is a lifelong process the work in PDP is not assessed. There are many
similarities to work-based learning, and Continued Professional Development (CPD) - which
is required for membership of professional societies. The skills in PDP are key components
of employability – self-reflection, recording, target setting, action planning and monitoring.
Web based materials relevant to PDP are found at:
Personal Development Planning
www.uclan.ac.uk/ldu/resources/pdp/intro1.htm
Skills Learning Resources
www.uclan.ac.uk/lskills/TLTP3/entersite.html
There is also information available which can be located using a web search engine.
Getting Started With PDP
Early in Semester 1 the student will access the Personal Development Planning web page
(above). At this stage the student will be working with the first FOUR sections. The student is
recommended to read the information, and where there is an activity or exercise to:
 Download the files, and open them in Word (or another word processor)
 Fill them out on-line, and print out the finished version, OR
 Print out the blank page and fill in by hand.
The four sections to complete are titled:
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Introduction
Self Awareness
Study Skills
Reviewing Progress
The results of the activity or exercise are best kept together in an A4 folder. A paper based
system is suggested, due to concerns about the security, privacy, and long-term accessibility
of records.
To provide evidence of the student’s work with these materials, the student is invited to
complete a Review Record. This is used by the student in the discussions within the Tutor
group and also with the student’s meeting with their Personal Tutor. During the tutorial
sessions there will be discussion around PDP elements and in particular anything the
student may have found difficult, or in which he/she needs assistance. Alternative
approaches may be considered and discussed, if the student has particular issues. By the
end of their studies, the student is advised to have completed and reviewed all the activities
and exercises.
16. Admissions criteria
Programme Specifications include minimum entry requirements, including academic
qualifications, together with appropriate experience and skills required for entry to study.
These criteria may be expressed as a range rather than a specific grade. Amendments to
entry requirements may have been made after these documents were published and you
should consult the University’s website for the most up to date information.
Students will be informed of their personal minimum entry criteria in their offer letter.
‘A’ Level
Normally a student will have a least one A Level pass in either Mathematics or Physics, with
supporting passes at GCSE Grades A* to C in an appropriate Science or Technology
subjects.
Mathematics must have been passed at GCSE. An additional Science or Technology subject
must have been studied at 'A' Level.
BTEC
BTEC Diploma / Extended Diploma in an Engineering discipline with at least a full Merit
profile - including merit in Maths
Mature Student
Mature students who do not fall into one of the above categories will be invited to attend an
informal interview at which their previous learning, industrial experience, needs and
aspirations can be thoroughly explored. If it is felt that they are in a position to benefit from
the course, they will be offered a place. If it is felt that they are not yet ready to enter Stage
One, they will be counselled as to the most suitable means of preparing for future entry.
17. Key sources of information about the programme
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Fact Sheet
Student Handbook
Course Rational
Burnley College Website: http://www.burnley.ac.uk/
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http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/honours/engineering.pdf
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http://technology.uclan.ac.uk/cms/html/fusion_pages/index.php?page_id=30
18. Curriculum Skills Map
Please tick in the relevant boxes where individual Programme Learning Outcomes are being assessed
Programme Learning Outcomes
Module
Level Code
Module Title
Core (C),
Compulsory
(COMP) or
Option (O)
Knowledge and
understanding
LEVEL
5
LEVEL 4
A1
BE 1501
Analytical Methods
C
BE 1502
Engineering Science
C
BE 1401
Mechanical Principles
C
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BE 1402
CADCAM
O
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BE 1403
O
BE 1507
Statistical Process
Control
Engineering Design
BE 1404
Project Management
O
BE1405
Advanced Materials
Technology
Operations
Management A
Project
O
BE 2721
BE 2502
O
A3
B1
B2
B4
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B5
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C1
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C2
C3
C4
D1
D2
D3
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D4
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Thinking Skills
B3
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A4
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C
C
A2
Subject-specific Skills
Other skills
relevant to
employability and
personal
development
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BE 2504
Manufacturing
Processes
C
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Note: Mapping to other external frameworks, e.g. professional/statutory bodies, will be included within Student Course Handbooks
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