Module overview
This module is the lab programme for all first-year students enrolled on an ELEC degree programme. It aims to give students the opportunity to apply the theory that they learn in their other modules, and to provide them with transferrable, subject-based and professional skills that they will need for their degree and career.
Structurally, the ELEC Part One Laboratory Programme is organised to cover all practical and laboratory based work in the first year of study on all ELEC Programmes in a single timetable organised into central laboratory locations.
The module is structured into a series of activities. There are a series of general sessions which all students enrolled on this module are expected to attempt:
- Information lectures.
- Transferable skills laboratories
- Professional skills laboratories.
- Assignments.
In addition, there are a number of technical laboratories integrated into the Laboratory Programme which cover practical Learning Outcomes from other technical modules in the Programmes.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Subject Specific Practical Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Use practical laboratory skills to investigate complex engineering problems.
- Use a range of industry-standard CAD tools to design, analyse and synthesise electrical and electronic circuits.
- Use a range of components and laboratory tools/instrumentation.
- Understand basic principles of designing solutions to engineering problems.
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Find, analyse and use relevant technical literature in books and journals, complying with regulations on academic integrity and copyright.
- Keep an appropriate record of work using a logbook.
- Understand error, accuracy and uncertainty, and analyse data appropriately using engineering statistics.
- Work individually or in pairs, overcoming problems and issues.
- Recognise the responsibility, benefits and importance of supporting equality, equity, diversity and inclusion in engineering practice.
- Design and conduct experiments, appreciating the need for assessing and managing risks and complying with legislation.
- Apply a range of mathematical, numerical and computational methods to data.
- Communicate your work effectively, both orally and via written reports.
- Appreciate how an engineer is expected to conduct work ethically and professionally and apply knowledge of relevant legal, environmental and societal matters.
- Effectively plan and monitor your time and your own work using recognised methods.
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Appreciate the capabilities and limitations of a range of components and laboratory tools/instrumentation.
- Design, assemble and test circuits using protoboard or PCBs.
- Understand and use appropriate equipment, processes and methods.
- Design, analyse and synthesise electrical and electronic circuits.
Syllabus
In addition to the module-specific content in laboratories, the following general material for Electronics and Electrical Engineering are covered:
Introduction to Part 1 Labs
Designing and Building Electronic Circuits
- Circuit Construction and Testing
- Programmable Logic Devices
- Mixed Signal Circuit Simulation
- PCB Layout, Assembly and Test
This module also contains the following key professional and transferrable skills:
Designing and Conducting Effective Experiments
- Introduction to Lab Equipment
- Logbooks and Keeping Records
- Fundamentals of Measurement
- Error and Uncertainty
- Engineering Statistics
- Experimental Design and Practice
- Effective Design, Analysis and Interpretation
- Data acquisition and automation
- Analysis and Interpretation
- Hardware Debugging and Fault Finding
Personal development:
- Independent learning
- Time management
- Project Management
- Working in Teams and Groups
- Digital literacy and information skills
- Presentation and communication skills
- Career structures.
Effective Communication
- Communication Skills
- Effective Oral Presentations
- Finding Information
- Technical Writing
Professional Conduct and your Future Career
- What is a Professional Engineer?
- Professional Ethics (including codes of conduct and practice)
- Academic Integrity
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
- Responsible Innovation
- Being an entrepreneur
Introduction to legal issues:
- Health and Safety Legislation
- Environmental Legislation
- Intellectual property (including copyright and patent);
- Computer misuse and data protection.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
The content of this module is delivered through lectures, the module website, directed reading, pre-recorded materials, and sessions in the laboratory.
Laboratory Sessions: teaching is delivered through specially constructed lab notes designed to make students observe particular phenomena, and through directed self-study in the lab preparation. Lab sessions typically last 3 hours.
| Type | Hours |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 12 |
| Specialist Laboratory | 72 |
| Total study time | 84 |
Resources & Reading list
Internet Resources
Textbooks
Holman, J.P. (2001). Experimental Methods for Engineers (7th Edition). McGraw-Hill.
Emden, J.V. (2001). Effective Communication for Science and Technology. Palgrave Macmillan.
Pearsall, T.E. (2010). The Elements of Technical Writing (3rd Edition). Longman.
Assessment
Assessment strategy
This module is a zero credit module. The Laboratory Programme is spread marked and allocated to 20% of the Technical Modules in Part 1. Students must achieve a pass mark in the Laboratory Programme in order to Progress to Part 2.
General Assessed Laboratories and associated coursework (X, T): The marking scheme assesses on the basis of preparation, progress, understanding and logbook usage. These are provided in the Laboratory Programme website for individual laboratories. Feedback is given throughout the lab by academics and postgraduates. If a student fails a lab, they can choose to reattempt it a number of times during the semester (subject to available resources/supervision), with their mark capped at 40%. These laboratories contribute to the overall Laboratory Mark.
Key Assessed Laboratories (T). As for assessed laboratories but, as these laboratories assess key Learning Outcomes from Technical Modules, students must pass at least one of the laboratories associated with each Technical Module in order to Progress to Part 2. If a student fails a Key Laboratory, they must reattempt it during the semester (subject to available resources/supervision), with their mark capped at 40%.
Mathematics and Data Laboratories (M). As for assessed laboratories but these laboratories collectively assess some key Learning Outcomes from the Mathematics Modules, as well as some transferable Learning Outcomes. Students must achieve an overall Pass Mark in these laboratories in order to Progress to Part 2. If a student does not achieve this, they must reattempt failed M laboratories during the semester (subject to available resources/supervision), with their mark capped at 40%.
Assignments (A)
These courseworks assess some of the professional and transferable skills. They are assessed through a combination of self- and peer-assessment and feedback, facilitated by academic and teaching staff, with the marks contributing to the overall Laboratory Mark. The exception to this is Technical Writing Assignment 2, which is assessed by academic staff, with written feedback provided. Students must achieve a Pass Mark on this assignment in order to Progress to Part 2. If a student fails the assignment, they must reattempt it, with their mark capped at 40%.
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
| Method | Percentage contribution |
|---|---|
| Laboratory | 13.333% |
| Coursework | 10% |
| Laboratory | 6.666% |
| Laboratory | 6.666% |
| Laboratory | 43.337% |
| Laboratory | 6.666% |
| Laboratory | 6.666% |
| Laboratory | 6.666% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal