Audiological Science 1 - Physics and Measurement - course unit details - BSc Healthcare Science (Audiology) - full details (2025 entry)

Duration: 3 years
Year of entry: 2025
UCAS course code: B611 / Institution code: M20

Typical A-level offer: ABB including specific subjects
Typical contextual A-level offer: BBB including specific subjects
Refugee/care-experienced offer: BBC including specific subjects
Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 34 points overall with 6,5,5 at HL, including specific requirements

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Fees and funding

Fees

Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £31,000 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.

Policy on additional costs

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

Scholarships/sponsorships

Some students may be eligible for financial support from the University. See the student finance section for more information.

Course unit details:
Audiological Science 1 - Physics and Measurement

Course unit fact file
Unit code	PCHN10050
Credit rating	20
Unit level	Level 4
Teaching period(s)	Full year
Available as a free choice unit?	No

Overview

This course unit will provide students with a background of the concepts of physics and measurement including the basics of acoustics relevant to audiology, physical concepts of mechanical systems

Aims

The unit aims to:

Provide basic knowledge and understanding of the background principles of physics and measurement relevant to neurosensory sciences, and audiology in particular.

Syllabus

Note, the order in which these are delivered may vary and this list does not necessarily indicate individual lecture topics.

Introduction to Sound and Acoustics (inc. Basics of simple and complex sounds; introduction to speech production and acoustics and acoustic cues for speech identification; room acoustics and hearing aid acoustics)
Introduction to Physical concepts and mechanical systems (inc. forces and motion; basic physical laws and physical quantities; examples of biomechanical structures, vestibular system, forces in the auditory system)
Signals and systems (including basic principles of filters, gain, signal-noise ratio)
Basic principles behind biomedical measurement and imaging techniques (inc. Examples of neurophysiological and audiological measurements, electromagnetic and nuclear radiation; X-ray; PET; and MRI imaging)
Revision Session

Teaching and learning methods

Lectures/Tutorial sessions are compulsory, and it is expected that you spend 3-5hr using the online material in preparation for each session.

Lecture/Tutorial sessions – Face-to-face (22 weeks x 1.5hr)
Online pre-reading material – weekly preparation for face-to-face (approx. 22 weeks x 4hr)

The following are suggested/estimated hours of additional work:

Directed Reading – approx. 30hr total
Assessment preparation and revision – variable (est. 50hrs)

Knowledge and understanding

Describe the basic properties of different acoustic signals and be able to explain concepts such as amplitude, frequency, phase, waveforms, spectra and spectrograms and decibels
Describe the basic acoustic properties of speech signals and how different sounds are produced
Explain the basic differences between linear and nonlinear systems (using audiology and hearing science examples)
Describe the basic properties of sound and light including their similarities and differences in transmission
Describe basic aspects of electromagnetic and nuclear radiation and how these can be used in medical imaging (inc. X-ray, PET and MRI)
Describe the basic physical principles that underly a range of assessment techniques in audiology

Intellectual skills

Demonstrate critical thinking and analysis
Demonstrate evaluative and interpretive skills
Demonstrate the ability to think critically and question received information

Practical skills

Effectively organise notes and thoughts that will allow you to process a range of different types of information available in this course unit
Effectively use online pre-reading material to prepare for face-to-face sessions

Transferable skills and personal qualities

Assimilate information from a variety of resources
Search, Select and extract appropriate information from appropriate academic resources

Assessment methods

Formative MCQ quizzes (online or in session)

MCQ Examination (on-campus 1-1.5hr) - 100%

Feedback methods

Formative assessment – online MCQ assessments with revision sessions.

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures	33

Independent study hours
Independent study	167

Teaching staff

Staff member	Role
Richard Baker	Unit coordinator

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BSc Healthcare Science (Audiology)