Bachelor of Science / Master of Physics (BSc/MPhys)

BSc/MPhys Physics with an Integrated Foundation Year

Maximise your achievement and fully prepare for degree-level study in your chosen course.

  • Duration: 1 (as part of 4/5 yr integrated degree programme)
  • Year of entry: 2025
  • UCAS course code: F009 / Institution code: M20
  • Key features:
  • Scholarships available

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Course unit details:
Foundation Year Project- Physics

Course unit fact file
Unit code FOUN18022
Credit rating 10
Unit level Level 1
Teaching period(s) Semester 2
Available as a free choice unit? No

Overview

A unit which will provide students with the opportunity to research and undertake an extended piece of project work in a topic relevant to their chosen area of study (Physics). Students will be part of a team working on a group project in Labs. 
 

Aims

The unit aims to provide students with the opportunity to research and undertake an extended piece of project work in a topic relevant to their chosen area of study (Physics). This will involve a combination of experimental work in the Labs and literature reviews. The unit also aims to promote both autonomy and collaboration in researching, writing up the experimental work and planning/delivering effective group presentations.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students should be able to:

Carry out tasks in the Labs in order to collect and analyse

Synthesise information from the literature and the experimental results into a piece of extended writing, incorporating all the necessary academic conventions

Plan and deliver engaging group presentations using presentation software  

Work effectively both individually and in a group 

Reflect and respond to feedback given by peers and supervisors 

Teaching and learning methods

- Introductory Lecture

- Weekly Labs and enquiry based learning

-Regular group meetings with Supervisor

-Self access to resources on Blackboard

Knowledge and understanding

  • Demonstrate an appropriate depth of knowledge (at level 0) in the chosen subject area. 

  • Explain the underlying scientific/engineering principles involved in the topics covered. 

Intellectual skills

  • Plan, research and produce an extended piece of academic written work. 

  • Choose appropriate resources for carrying out this research. 

  • Assess the quality and reliability of information/data. 

  • Analyse and arrange data in a logical manner. 

  • Present and explain aims, methods, discussion, conclusions etc in a logical manner. 

Practical skills

  • Academic report writing and publishing, oral and visual presentation, lab work. 

Transferable skills and personal qualities

  • All skills learned in this course are directly transferrable to future academic courses and workplace environments 

Employability skills

Analytical skills
Students search for and critically analyse texts from a wide variety of sources.
Group/team working
Students work in groups throughout the Project. Wherever possible students are placed in mixed groups in order to help prepare them for the global workplace.
Leadership
In group Project work, students have the opportunity to develop their leadership skills
Project management
Students manage their own time when undertaking their Project, and have to use relevant technology to assist them to do so.
Oral communication
Students make a group presentation at the end of their Project.
Problem solving
In Project work students negotiate and resolve issues that can arise.
Research
Students do their own independent research in the Project Unit.
Written communication
Students write in a formal academic style using the relevant conventions to produce their final Project Report.

Assessment methods

Method Weight
Other 10%
Written assignment (inc essay) 10%
Report 50%
Oral assessment/presentation 20%
Set exercise 10%

-Written Group Project Plan- 10%
-Written Group Report- 50%
-Group Oral presentations- 20%
-Group online journals- 10%
-Peer Evaluation- 10%

Feedback methods

  • Formative feedback given by group members and project supervisors during the Unit. 

  • Summative feedback given by group members and project supervisors at the end of Semester 2 

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures 1
Practical classes & workshops 12
Project supervision 20
Independent study hours
Independent study 67

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Simon Raw Unit coordinator

Additional notes


 

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