Engineering School

The departmental offices for all the Civil,Electrical/Electronic and Mechanical are situated in the School of Engineering Block where staff are available to assist with administrative matters. For example, they will issue and receive mitigating circumstances envelopes, and log assignments that are submitted via the assignment post box next to the reception area. The Department Office staff can also pass on written messages to tutors.

Postgraduate Personal Tutoring for Taught MEng Programmes

Your postgraduate programme of study under taught MEng is delivered by a Programme Leader supported by tutors for every specialised stream.

Induction In The Graduate School

When you first join the Copperbelt University as a Postgraduate Student, you will be provided with an induction programme. A number of the activities associated with this postgraduate programme will take place during your first week with the University and are designed to familiarise you with the University and provide essential information to ease the uncertainty of being in a new environment.

Induction will also provide you with the opportunity to meet with taught programme staff that organise generic skills training sessions for all postgraduate students and provide advice and guidance on academic regulations, procedures and policies. Working closely with the School of Engineering Research Degrees Committee, the school ensures support for postgraduates is improved by the best practice and is responsive to national developments in postgraduate policies and practices.

Programme staff are keen to help to make the time you spend with them as academically stimulating and rewarding as possible. Postgraduate Programmes staff have a well deserved reputation for being approachable and being interested in their postgraduate students’ progress. They also know from experience that postgraduate students can, through no fault of their own, face difficulties that may hinder their capacity to perform to the best of their ability. It is their aim to make sure they do everything to help such postgraduate students achieve their potential despite these difficulties.

They will work with you to tackle these difficulties and make sure that such difficulties are taken into account in relation to assessments. They provide a range of support mechanisms for all postgraduate students including the following:

1. • Academic Support and Guidance :Both your Programme Leader and Pathway Tutors/supervisors deal with postgraduate student academic queries or problems that relate to the requirements of the postgraduate programme over and above those of individual modules. These staff will support you in the fulfilment of the module requirements for your postgraduate programme and deal with other administrative enquiries that cannot be dealt with in the Graduate School.

The Copperbelt University welcomes postgraduate students with disabilities and/or additional support requirement and will make every effort to support their needs. We will help you to develop strategies, discover skills and independence by a multi-team, student-centred approach. We encourage you to work with us to achieve your full potential.

We have contacts with local and national external bodies concerned with inclusion, disability awareness and disability provision. Advice is provided by the University Disability Service in the graduate school or the Dean of Student’s Office on an individual, strictly confidential basis.

Assessment for Postgraduate students with disabilities

The University is keen to support postgraduate students who have difficulties in undertaking the normal methods of assessment. A statement to this effect is provided in the Regulations on the Assessment and Examination of Postgraduate Students guide published by the University.

There are Disability Officers available in the Dean of Student’s Office to give support and guidance to students with additional needs in the preparation for and during assessment times.

The Copperbelt University welcomes international Postgraduate Students. The School of Engineering in particular with its wide range of taught Masters (MEng), Masters by research (MSc) and PhD by research recognizable around the world gives the ultimate in learning experience. The University as a whole has Welfare Officers providing specialist support and guidance for the University’s international postgraduate students on a wide range of issues from extending your student visa to personal and welfare matters impacting on your studies.

You are responsible for attending all learning and teaching sessions associated with your taught postgraduate programme of study or your research programme. You should notify the Dean of the Graduate School or the Programme Leader in the School of Engineering in advance if you expect to be absent from timetabled classes. Prior permission must be obtained from your Programme Leader for planned absences for two or more days during term time.

You may be contacted by Department staff if an explanation for unsatisfactory attendance is required. We will endeavour to help you if your absence is due to mitigating circumstances.

Your attendance will be monitored electronically and in the event that you are absent, without notification, an email will be sent to your University email account. Please note that every absent email you receive will be logged against your student attendance profile. Therefore, in cases where you believe an absence email has been sent to you in error; please raise this with the individual module tutors. They will then be able to amend the mark if it is appropriate to do so.

NB: It is your responsibility to ensure that any absence emails that are sent to your University email account are dealt with. Attendance information may be discussed with employers/sponsors (where agreement has been given) or at Examination Board so your attendance record is extremely important if on taught MEng.

Where there is no valid reason for unsatisfactory attendance, a postgraduate student may be issued with a formal written warning. A postgraduate student who fails to respond to warnings about their attendance may be required to enter into a formal Attendance Agreement. Such students may be withdrawn from their postgraduate programme if they breach the terms of their Attendance Agreement.

Postgraduate taught Programme Committee

In relation to the management of the postgraduate programmes, you will be represented by your year’s elected Student Representative(s) on the Masters Degree Pathway Programmes Committee, the body responsible for planning and monitoring the operation of the academic programmes.

Teaching and Learning Methods

A variety of teaching and learning methods are employed throughout the programme in order to ensure the acquisition and development of appropriate concepts, knowledge and skills. Some of these you will experience during formally timetabled classes with a Module tutor. Others you may adopt personally to facilitate your own learning.

It is important to realise that the time spent with a tutor during formally timetabled classes is only a small part of the learning time identified for a module. In addition to the contact time with lecturers, a significant amount of personal study should be undertaken. This personal study time should be spent, for example, engaging in general background reading, preparing for seminar activities, working on assignments or revising for examinations. Early in your studies guidance will be provided as to how you can make best use of this time. As you progress through your programme however, this guidance will become less structured and prescriptive.

The methods described below are the ones most commonly employed by tutors during your time in the classroom. However, individual module tutors are free to introduce techniques that they view as especially suitable in aiding learning in their specialist area.

Lectures

Lectures play an important part throughout the programme and will feature in a number of modules. They involve the dissemination of theoretical and empirical information by a lecturer and provide a basic framework that students can build upon through their reading and through other classroom activities.

Practical Sessions

Tutor-led practical sessions in laboratories and studios are a key aspect of this programme. These may comprise demonstrations by staff members, hands-on practical activities or project work. These activities help develop subject specific practical skills; specifically, the ability to: effectively deploy the methods and tools used in the development of a product, solve practical problems by making and testing prototypes; and make effective use of specialist software.

Seminars

Seminars involve groups of postgraduate students who meet with a tutor to discuss further reading, issues and problems arising from lecture material, or to undertake case studies or problem-solving exercises. It is common for further reading on a particular topic to be assigned, and one student may be required to present an oral synopsis to provide a basis for discussion. Seminars play an important part in encouraging students to think critically about the subject, to analyse theory and information in a systematic fashion, and to enhance understanding of conceptual issues.

Workshops

Workshops are also employed in some modules and may involve the development of skills, e.g. research methods, the application of statistics, presentations etc, as well as problem solving through the evaluation of case-study material. Workshop sessions are also an important element of the preparation for the work placement period. General assistance with assignment work may be offered in workshops, and they play an important part in increasing students’ confidence in dealing with the subject matter.

Tutorials

These are usually individually based but may be shared with postgraduate students who are studying a similar area/issue. Students should prepare for tutorials, which are usually associated with an assignment, by bringing any plans for discussion.

Informal Group Study Sessions

Postgraduate students are encouraged to hold informal group sessions in locations that are conducive. Study rooms found around the Campus can also be booked for meetings and/or presentation practice.

Private Study

In addition to class contact time, you are expected to engage in private study equivalent to about 120 hours of ‘effort’ per 24 credit module. This personal study time should be spent, for example, engaging in general background reading, preparing for seminar activities or working on assignments. Guidance will be provided as to how you can make best use of this time.

The Dissertation is based on an investigation designed, implemented and interpreted by each student. For this module you are expected to arrange individual meetings with your allocated supervisor. A comprehensive guide is available for students undertaking the research project.

Your contribution

Your contribution is vital to the success of the module, for you and your peers. Many of the activities you will undertake will involve you in working with other postgraduate students, in pairs, subgroups or as a whole class or cohort group. These activities succeed because of the range of ideas, experiences, knowledge and motivation that postgraduate students bring to them. We therefore ask for and require your fullest constructive co-operation and active participation.

Some further points are:

1. 1. • Engage fully in activities, even if at first sight they do not seem particularly relevant. Often the significance is not apparent at the outset, and can only emerge if the group approaches the activities positively.
      • Reflect upon your experiences on the programme, identifying your own contribution and those of others. Keep a log book/reflective journal in which you can record your reflections, even if your programme does not require you to.
      • You will often be exposed to views and ideas that challenge your own. We ask that you respect the views of others and be prepared to listen to them, consider them, and analyse them objectively.
      • Avoid racist, sexist or ageist remarks and other offensive language or behaviour.
      • As a secular institution the University expects its students and staff to display tolerance and respect toward each other regardless of their religious beliefs including those who have no religious beliefs.

Study skills, communication skills and use of English

If you have not recently undertaken academic work of the type required by your programme, your study could be a particular challenge for you. Depending on your subject specialism, you might be unfamiliar with the demands of writing extended essays or discursive dissertations. You will receive study skills support throughout the programme from your tutors as you develop and as you undertake activities. An Open University set book (Northedge, 2005) is very readable and helpful. The library is also available to help you.

The library gives advice on Study Skills on basic writing skills, essay writing, report writing, presentation skills, study skills and preparing a dissertation.

Information Literacy

The University is committed to helping you postgraduate as an ‘information literate’ person. This means that you will be able to identify, locate and retrieve standard (subject) and other material in printed and electronic form, using appropriate resources. You will be able to synthesise and present retrieved materials in ways appropriate to the task in hand. Throughout your programme, you will be given every opportunity to develop your skills in this area, through workshops, seminars, tutorials and self-directed learning.

Assessment serves several functions. The obvious and primary function is to evaluate student achievement. However, assessment also serves to help you organise and develop your learning. Feedback from assessment serves an important educational function and can help you develop your skills and understanding of your own strengths and weaknesses.

Essay

For a number of modules, students will be required to produce a coursework essay or essays. Essays assess understanding of the thrust of the question set, whether you have introduced and appreciate the relevance of appropriate material to the topic in hand and understand its implications, Whether you can analyse and evaluate information and whether you can communicate your ideas clearly.

Coursework essays are typically set to assess the learning outcomes related to understanding key concepts, Demonstrating critical evaluations, and demonstrating the capacity to think independently. The required length of coursework essays can vary depending upon the purpose of the assignment for which the work is assessed. You will be given guidance by the lecturing staff on any specific requirements.

Reports

A number of courses require the student to write reports, which are sometimes based on a given case-study. These reports identify published background research and rationale for their study, the way in which the study was carried out, and the results and analysis of information. Usually, a standard format is used to aid clear, precise and unambiguous expression. Students are given explicit guidance on the format required for the report.

Presentations

Students are required to make oral presentations (e.g. from notes or from an essay, using presentational aids where appropriate) in a number of modules. Some modules may specify such a presentation as part of their assessment, whilst seminar presentations in other modules may not be part of the formal assessment.

Project Work

Many modules make use of project work for assessment. Project work may be undertaken by individuals or groups of students working together. Project briefs may be set by the tutor, an external company or by students themselves, depending on the requirements of the module.

Live project work is a key feature of this programme, with some project briefs being set by external companies, addressing real-life problems and issues. Some of the products developed as a result of these live projects may end up to market. In the final year project, or dissertation, the student is expected to design and conduct an investigation into a selected topic area, setting their own aims and objectives, and critically appraising the outcomes.

Examination

Some modules will require you to sit an examination. In an examination you are given a range of questions from which you are required to answer a set number within a given time. This type of examination is known as “Closed Book”.

Some examinations may be “Open Book”. In open book exams you are allowed to bring books and other material into the exam room; you will be tested on your understanding of material rather than on your memory. Other examinations may be based around a case study.

The assessment methods for each module are identified in the module specification given out at the beginning of the teaching period. The module specification also provides information on assignment submission dates and will allow you to plan your work load effectively.

Assessment

The modules are coded for convenient reference, as are the methods used to assess student performance in each module. All modules follow the same principles for marking and feedback. Assignments are normally issued according to a schedule that will be given to you by your tutor. Important information on assessment regulations and other information on assessment (including marking criteria and definitions of grade descriptions) are contained herein. Please ensure that you read and understand this information. It will be assumed that you are familiar with the Assessment Regulations for the Postgraduate Programme of Study.

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy for the programme is designed to ensure that students achieve the overall aims and learning outcomes of the programme, as well as the learning outcomes for individual modules. The mix of assessment methods which allows students to develop their intellectual capabilities, as well as key transferable skills can be found under The Learning & Teaching Strategy.

Assessment Criteria

Specific criteria within modules will vary from assignment to assignment and will be made clear to you before you embark on any task. In addition to these module specific criteria, there are a set of general assessment criteria for the Modular Programme Scheme, which will also apply. The following sections give detail on these points:

Context of Progression

The Semester system is adopted for this programme. Students will be required to take a specified number of modules at each stage. Each student will at the end of each semester (stage) receive grades in each module taken. These represent quality points, assigned to each grade. At the end of each stage the Grade Point Average (GPA) or points for each student will be calculated. A cumulative Grade Point Average will also be calculated.

Progression through stages

1. 1. • A student shall proceed to Stage II regardless of the cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) obtained at the end of Stage I.
      • A student must have gained a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5 at the end of Stage II to pass.
      • The programme must be completed within a maximum period of 2 years.

Miscellaneous

A postgraduate student shall not change his/her pathway of enrolment at Stage II without the written approval of the Dean of the School.

A postgraduate student wishing to change elective module shall apply formally to the Dean of the School within three weeks of the commencement of the second stage.

Every postgraduate student shall be required to attend lectures, seminars and tutorials given in each module in any semester, on regular basis.

Maximum Duration of Study for taught Masters Programme

All taught Maters Degree Pathways will have a maximum duration of study of 24 months to make good the unsatisfactory works. For the purpose of computing the maximum period for a module of study, the years in which a candidate withdrew from studies with permission shall not be counted.