Learning and Teaching Committee

Subject: Electronic and Electrical Engineering – Use of 15-credit modules

Origin: Senate: unconfirmed Minutes of 29 June 2005

Learning and Teaching Committee is invited to note Senate discussions on the report and recommendations forwarded from its previous meeting on the use of 15-credit modules in undergraduate programmes run by the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering:

05/54 Use of 15-credit modules in undergraduate programmes

Further to Minute 04/66.2 of Senate’s 368^th meeting on 23 June 2004, Senate considered a report from the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering on its ‘pilot’ year of operating undergraduate programmes with 15-credit modules, and the minute of Learning and Teaching Committee thereon. Learning and Teaching Committee had resolved to inform Senate that it was persuaded by the case for allowing the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering to continue exceptionally to use 15-credit modules in its undergraduate programmes, and extend their use to Part C. This had been on the basis that the department’s programmes were in effect self-contained. The Committee had also recommended that Senate reaffirm that the structure of the University’s undergraduate programmes generally should continue to be based on the 10-credit module and multiples of 10. Keith Gregory, author of the Department’s report, explained that the Department was not proposing the demise of 10-credit modules, but was seeking the freedom to use 15-credit as well as 10/20-credit modules, for ease of teaching over the year and to permit reasonable optional choice. Views aired by members were that:

· the view of students that learning over the whole year was preferable was an important conclusion of the report

· if Senate was convinced that 15-credit modules worked in certain situations such as self-containment they should not be exceptional to one department

· care was needed to avoid a confusing modular system.

It was RESOLVED to approve the recommendations of Learning and Teaching Committee as presented in the final paragraph of the Committee’s minute. Senate congratulated Keith Gregory on his recent award of Lecturer of the Year by the Students’ Union.

Author – Robert Bowyer

Date – November 2005