CSC-30024 - Module Specification
School of Computing and Mathematics
Faculty of Natural Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2020/21

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

Successful completion of Level 5 studies

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2020/21

In a competitive job market, employers are increasingly looking beyond degree results and towards academically successful graduates who also understand how the professional work place functions and who have well-developed employability skills. The placements will be allocated, subject to performance and availability, to students who can demonstrate the practical application of skills developed during their degree, and which graduate employers desire. This can be key to a graduate securing employment and studies suggest a favourable link between graduates who have undertaken a placement and greater success securing graduate employment.
During this Placement Year module, students will undertake a long-term (minimum of 30 weeks equivalent of full-time work) work-based learning internship with a company or organisation, where they will be supported in developing effective professional practices through training in generic and specific employability skills and through developing independent reflective learning practices to enhance their continuing professional development in the context of their own working environment. Students will also gain a much greater understanding of professional practice within the computing employment sector and be able to use their placement experiences to develop their CVs, better understand the place of academic theory and knowledge in real-world situations and improve their employability upon graduation.
The module develops the following Keele Graduate Attributes:
1) an open and questioning approach to ideas, demonstrating curiosity, independence of thought and the ability to appreciate a range of perspectives on the natural and social worlds;
2) an appreciation of the development and value of your chosen subjects of study, awareness of their contexts, the links between them, and awareness of the provisional and dynamic nature of knowledge;
4) the ability creatively to solve problems using a range of different approaches and techniques, and to determine which techniques are appropriate for the issue at hand;
6) the ability to communicate clearly and effectively in written and verbal forms for different purposes and to a variety of audiences;
7) the knowledge, skills, self-confidence and self-awareness actively to pursue your future goals;
9) a professional and reflective approach, including qualities of leadership, responsibility, personal integrity, empathy, care and respect for others, accountability and self-regulation;
10) the flexibility to thrive in rapidly changing and uncertain external environments and to update skills and knowledge as circumstances require.

The aim of this module is to provide students with the opportunity to carry out a long-term work-based learning experience (minimum 30 weeks equivalent of full-time work) in the computing sector between Years 2 and 3 (Levels 5 and 6) of their degree programme. The module will be underpinned by employability skills training (as part of their preparation during year 2), reflective assessment, employer and tutor evaluation and support from academic tutors.

Intended Learning Outcomes

evaluate their own employability skills (via a SWOT Analysis): 1,3
create Intended Learning Outcomes for their placement in order to develop the skills areas which they have identified as being weak or needing further enhancement: 1,2,3
develop, through practice in the work place, the work-related skills identified through their SWOT analysis and Intended Learning Outcomes: 1,2,3
apply academic theory learnt as part of the taught degree to real situations in the work place: 1,2,3
reflect on their work placement activities and experiences and evaluate their impact on their employability skills: 1,2,3
explain how the professional computing sector operates and identify the skills required to pursue careers within the sector: 1,2,3

Study hours

The placement year is the equivalent of 120 credits and the student will be expected to be on placement for a MINIMUM of 30 weeks equivalent of full-time work (this is roughly equivalent to a standard university teaching period), therefore a minimum of 1050 hours should be spent on placement. The placements would normally begin in week 2 of the autumn semester of the placement year. The placements can continue for up to 12 months, providing the necessary assessments are submitted and passed for progression into the final year (Level 6).
10 hours are given for scheduled learning and teaching activities (to be delivered over two days in the first week of semester 1 of the academic year that the placement actually takes place) and 140 hours are provided for guided independent study.

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment