Core modules (subject to change)

• An Introduction to Technology and Design

  This module is designed for students of construction, surveying and architecture with little and/or no prior knowledge of building construction, services and material properties. Students will learn the common materials and methods of construction of both new and traditional housing, by considering in turn each of the main elements of the buildings' structure. They will also study the requirements of the internal environment, so as to understand how services installations contribute to user comfort. Other basic aspects such as the personnel involved, health and safety requirements and specialised terminology will be illustrated as appropriate to support this. The module is also designed to provide an insight into the behaviour and properties for a variety of materials commonly used in the construction of buildings and civil engineering projects. The behavioural properties and performance of these materials will be explored using basic scientific principles in order to develop the students' ability to make informed choices. Students will also gain an appreciation of the role of the designer in the construction process and have an understanding of the design process. An integrated learning system comprising course text book, weekly videos, and workbooks for students' home study, are used together with formal lectures and group tutorials. Students will also undertake a series of calculations culminating in a design exercise.

• Work Related Learning in the Built Environment

  Some students have knowledge or interest in a work related field of the Built Environment which are not covered in the standard set of modules offered by the department or university. This module allows students to negotiate a structured set of specific objectives related to the world of work, which are to be achieved within the module. Students will be encouraged to take additional responsibility for their own learning. The student will be expected to submit the agreed deliverables in the agreed format at the end of the module period. These deliverables will be assessed against the objectives and assessment criteria agreed at the start of the module. The agreed objectives to be undertaken by the student will normally require the student to demonstrate the generic learning outcomes expected at this level and the size of the module.

• Learning and Practical Skills and Development (HE and Work)

  Foundation Degree Students entering Higher Education will need specific study skills to enable them to maximise their learning potential and take advantage of opportunities available both in the academic setting and the workplace. The module is intended to be both preparatory and supportive building a strong foundation for learning and later development. Students will gain an appreciation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills for research, information management and presentation purposes. It encourages students to use contemporary ICT methods for research and for the production and presentation of reports, in a style suitable both for their university coursework requirements and in a commercial environment. The module will enable students to gain experience in applying the elementary surveying techniques of levelling and linear measurement, both for detail acquisition and setting out. The relevant mathematical skills will be introduced and developed contextually. Final survey drawings will be produced and annotated. Students will be introduced to basic 2D drafting techniques using a powerful set of tools. Skills in this medium are highly sought after in the construction industry. Students will develop and maintain a reflective learning log to support this module and their continuing studies, the reflective log to be used as the basis of their PDP submission.

• Civil Engineering Works

  This module covers earthworks and groundwork techniques. It covers the principles and practice of earth-moving plant selection, safety, cycles and economics. Soil stabilisation techniques of dynamic consolidation, vibratory systems and grouting are also included as well as foundations suitable for these systems. In addition conventional piled foundations will be covered. Temporary and permanent support techniques, such as cofferdams; contiguous piling and diaphragm walls are discussed. Long-span low-rise and medium rise structures will be discussed in terms of material selection, construction methods, foundation types and the performance of different of claddings.

• Civil Engineering Mathematics

  This module is designed to provide the underpinning knowledge and skills in mathematics for use in subsequent modules in civil engineering such as structural analysis, structural design, hydraulics and geotechnics. About half the module will cover the theory and applications of calculus to engineering problems. The module will also deal with a range of mathematical theories and techniques but in particular will develop practical applications such as the position and second moment of area for a given shape. The equations of curves from observed or measured data, the calculation of irregular areas and volumes and problems of geometry will also be explored. Students will also study basic statistical techniques applied, where possible to engineering applications such as concrete mixers. Assessment will be by assignment and examination.

• Work Based Learning A in Built Environment

  This module is designed for the Foundation Degree students and will enable students to understand general relationships between education and the world of work, to demonstrate how each can provide a learning environment for the other, and to develop skills directly relevant for their future career development. The module is designed to cover a minimum learning period of three months. The module is designed to give students an opportunity to explore a particular working environment which they have identified as relevant to their present or future needs. The module explores how work and learning interact, encourages self managed learning, and serves to increase employability by increasing self reliance and confidence. Students have an opportunity to analyse and evaluate industrial structures, industrial roles and functions, and industrial self-awareness. Further more, the module covers human relationships in industry, team relationships, problem evaluations and analysis. The underpinning aim of work in this module is to use the academic skills developed during periods in university to enhance the learning, which takes place with an employer. Students will also be able to examine in detail the links between academic theory and practical reality.

• Work Based Learning B in Built Environment

  This module builds on the work covered in the module Work Based Learning 'A' in Built Environment. The module is designed to cover a minimum learning period of three months and continues to explore how work and learning interact. It encourages self managed learning, and serves to increase employability by increasing self reliance and confidence. Students have an opportunity to further analyse and evaluate industrial structures, industrial roles and functions, and industrial self-awareness. The student will need to identify their likes, dislikes, successes, failures, strengths and weaknesses and review the opportunities and threats of professional membership. Following on from this, students will produce an action plan including an assessment of potential professional membership routes which will enable them to plan how and over what timescale they intend to improve their identified areas for development. Students will make use of RAPID/PDP systems (knowledge and skills base) in providing evidence. This evidence will be organised within a Portfolio of Evidence and may contain: physical items of the candidate's work, witness testimony from an employer or others familiar with the candidate's work, evidence from company performance reviews -records of observations of the candidate at work, records of work simulations

• Geotechnics 1

  The module introduces Geotechnics to civil engineering students. After introducing basic geological concepts, it seeks to provide the student with an appreciation of the ground investigation element of site investigation. It introduces the student to soils laboratory practice and gives the opportunity to relate the results of soil laboratory tests to theoretical concepts and the practical needs of civil engineering construction. The module provides a medium for the development of skills in algebraic manipulation which are applied to the relationships between basic soil properties.

• Site Management and Safety

  The module provides course members with the opportunity to examine health and safety issues within the construction industry and their integration throughout the processes of design, tender award and construction. The roles of all parties involved will be explored from both moral and legal viewpoints. Past and current attitudes will be discussed. Students will consider the safety record within the construction industry and identify health and safety legislation aimed at reducing accident rates. The process of hazard identification and risk assessment will be explained and students will produce method statements following on from their risk assessments. Safe systems of work will be identified enabling the student to relate theory and practice.

• Structural Method and Analysis

  This module aims to introduce the students to an understanding of the behaviour of statically determinate structures and an appreciation of the concept of statical equilibrium and determinacy. It also addresses the fundamental relationship between loads, shear force, bending moment as well as the effect of combined shear and direct/bending stresses. The students are also introduced to the deformability of structures and the principles of static indeterminacy and the methods of analysis of simple indeterminate forms. The design part of the module is in three parts: Timber, Concrete and Steel Design. The aim is to: Introduce the students to basic design philosophies and procedures used in the design of structural elements in buildings constructed with these three most common building materials. Link knowledge of structural forms, loading, structural analysis and materials behaviour. Help the students to appreciate the importance of producing structural drawings of elements in sufficient details for construction and/manufacture. The module is specifically designed to cover the fundamentals of structural design for timber beams and floors; concrete beams, one-spanning concrete slabs and unrestrained steel beams. It will also cover strut or column design with axial, eccentric and biaxial loading for timber, concrete and steel and masonry walls and piers. The student is expected to learn mainly through application of the design theory covered in class and by completing the design coursework and tutorial exercises and through independent study. It is envisaged that students undergoing this course will gain an appreciation of the role of the designer in the construction process and have an understanding of the design process.

• Continuing Personal and Professional Development

  The module will enable the learner to understand their own need for continuous personal and professional development and understand and apply principles of evaluation, quality assurance and quality improvement leading to the evaluation and improvement of their own wider professional practice. Students will also prepare a personal strategy for self development. This will include identifying individual personal characteristics as a basis for a self development programme that should include ideas about career development. A range of learning and teaching strategies will be used. These will include workshops, seminars and tutorials. The module will enable the learner to focus on their individual development needs.

• CAD for Civil Engineers

  This module is intended to give civil engineers and other interested students an appreciation of the growing importance of three-dimensional CAD software. It will give hands-on training in some of the most up to date software complying with the latest British and European Standards. Intelligent object orientated design methods will be employed to create virtual models which can interact with digital terrain models. Students will gain an appreciation of the substantial benefits such systems can offer in terms of client visualisation and design flexibility and will produce a basic site animation. Overview of CAD systems - relevance and applications - reasons for and explanation of British Standard (BS1192/EN) layering convention. Use, set up and control the user interface and working environment. Design development - create and edit steel framed buildings adding walls, doors, windows, stairs, railings, roofs and spaces. Using external references and inserting 2D and 3D objects from software libraries. Generation of dimensions, elevations and the preparation of drawing schedules and basic animations. Control the display and plotting environments.

• Site and Engineering Surveying

  This module is designed to expose students to both traditional and contemporary advanced survey techniques. They will capture, manipulate and utilise field data for both horizontal control and detail acquisition. The theory and practice of traditional traversing and curve ranging techniques will be given emphasis alongside contemporary practices. Students will gain hands on experience in the use of advanced contemporary surveying equipment (theodolites and total stations) for data capture and for setting out. Acquired data will be sorted and processed both manually and electronically, the latter to be converted into a format suitable for CAD output. Final survey drawings will be produced and annotated using AutoCAD 2006 and will be presented in a style appropriate to industry. These field and office skills are invaluable in the workplace and are transferable to across a wide range of survey products and to many branches of the construction industry. Students will also gain an understanding of how remote surveying by extra-terrestrial systems has evolved and of how a variety of control systems relate to the Ordnance Survey National Grid.