New students
The academic year, Modular Scheme and contact time
The academic year consists of three terms, with most modules running throughout the whole academic year. There are 26 teaching weeks, divided into the three terms with occasional ‘reading’ or ‘project’ work weeks where you may not have any contact time. Assessment weeks follow and feature examinations or other end-of-year assessments. Towards the end of the academic year sessions tend to be used for revision, particularly where modules have examinations.
Coursework assignments will be set at various points during the year. Details of assignments and the dates by which they have to be submitted are given in modules. You’re encouraged to note submission dates and manage your study time accordingly.
Key dates for 2011-12
Induction week begins Monday 26th September 2011
Autumn term teaching begins Monday 3rd October
Last teaching day of autumn term Friday 16th December
Winter vacation Monday 19th December – Friday 6th January
Spring term begins Monday 9th January 2012
Spring term reading week Monday 13th – Friday 17th February
Last teaching day of spring term Friday 30th March
Spring vacation Monday 2nd April – Friday 20th April
Summer term begins Monday 23rd April
Bank holiday Monday 7th May
Last teaching day of summer term Friday 18th May
Assessment/examination period begins Friday 21st May – 1st June
Bank holiday Monday 4th June and Tuesday 5th June
Summer term ends Friday 22nd June
Information about course dates and the schedules for examinations and examination boards can be found at the Student Services area of the BSU website. Follow the links from Services, Student Services, Current Students, Your Course, Course of Study Student Services area of the BSU website.
There will be other important dates that you should note in due course e.g. deadlines for assignments and staff-student committee meetings for your course.
The Modular Scheme
Teaching and learning is delivered through separate taught
courses, called modules. Modules can be either optional or compulsory. All
modules are assessed and as well as getting marks for your assessed work you
earn a fixed number of credits when you have passed each module. At BSU you
will take a mix of 40 and 20 credits modules. When you have passed a module you
will earn the number of credits that is associated with that module; (note that
earning credits is reliant on passing the module, not on the grades that you
achieve in the assessments within the module). At each level you must earn 120
credits (e.g. 2 x 40 credit modules and 2 x 20 credit modules taken in one year
= 120 credits or 3 x 40 credit modules taken in one year = 120 credits).
Modules are coded according to the subject that offers them, the level that they are offered at their credit weighting (BM = Business and Management, BY = Biology, FN = Food and Nutrition, GE = Geography, HS = Health Studies, SC = Sociology, PS = Psychology). The first number indicates the level: 4 (first year), 5 (second year) or 6 (third year) – you may only choose a level 4 module in level 4. The 20 or 40 indicates the amount of credits allocated to that particular module.
BM4001-40 is a first year (level 4) 40 credit module in Business
and Management.
BY4002-20 is a first year (level 4) 20 credit module in Biology.
Single Honours, Combined Honours, Specialized Awards and Foundation degrees
If you are registered for a Single Honours Award, then in your first year you must also take a second subject and you can take a third. Additional subjects are a common feature of university courses throughout the UK, as these enable you to maintain subject breadth and flexibility in your future studies. Most single honours students drop their other subject(s) at the end of the first year. However, you can choose to switch to a joint programme, or even switch to another subject for your single honours programme. It makes sense if your other subject(s) complement your main subject and so most additional subjects are based within the School. Subjects available in the School are: Biology, Business and Management, Food and Nutrition, Geography, Psychology, Health Studies, and Sociology. However, other combinations are possible and include subjects from other Schools.
If you are taking a Combined Award, then you will already be taking a second subject and you either need to select some optional modules or you may choose to pursue a third subject.
If you are taking a Specialised Award or Foundation Degree, then all or most of your first year modules are already chosen for you. However, some courses have a specified range of modules from which you can choose options.
All students must confirm ALL the modules that they are taking in all subjects on student portal by Wednesday at 11.00.
Choosing modules
All subjects offer at least one compulsory core 40 credit module in the first year. At level 4 you must take at least two compulsory core 40 credit modules, one from your main subject, (which is known as your A-subject), and one from your second subject, (known as your B-subject). This adds up to 80 credits, leaving you with another 40 credits to select. This could be with two 20 credit optional modules from either your A- and/or B- subjects, or you could chose to select a compulsory 40 credit module from a third subject (a C-subject).
Information on the current range of compulsory and optional modules available for your programme of study can be found in the Module Choice Guide and on the student portal.
You should consult your tutor about your module choices.
The Undergraduate Modular Scheme Handbook provides more information about the regulations concerning study at the University. It is given to all students and is also available on-line at:
bathspa.ac.uk/services/student-services/
Teaching
Taught contact hours vary at each level and depending on your subject and according to the number of credits earned. Generally you should expect to have more contact time at level 4 (your first year) than at subsequent levels.
For first year students 40 credit modules are normally made up of four or five hours of contact time per week, perhaps a mix of lectures, seminars, practical sessions, workshops, tutorials or visits. In contrast, a 20 credit module could be made up of two hours of contact time per week, a fifty minute lecture and a fifty minute seminar, or a 50 minute lecture and a two-hour practical session.
Either a module handbook will provide details of the schedule of teaching and learning, learning outcomes, assessments, assessment criteria and required reading, or this information will be available on-line via the virtual learning environment, which is called Minerva VLE, (see computer facilities section for more details and how to access Minerva VLE).
Compulsory 40 credit modules in your subjects are:
Biology
BY4001-40 Biology: the Living World
Business and Management
BM4001-40 Organisations and the Business Environment
Food and Nutrition
FN4001-40 Introduction to Food and Nutrition
Geography
GE4001-40 Foundations in Geography
Sociology
SC4001-40 Discovering Sociology
Psychology
PS4001-40 Introduction to Psychology
PS4002-40 Research Methods in Psychology I (this additional module compulsory
for single and to major in Psychology, optional for joint and to minor in
Psychology).
