Summary Notes of reviews conducted
in 2007
Professor John Dickens, Associate
Dean (Teaching) of Engineering
In
accordance with University quality procedures for annual review, a formal
meeting was held with the following departments.
Chemical
Engineering 1
February 2007
Mechanical
and Manufacturing Engineering 2
February 2007
Aeronautical
& Automotive Engineering 5 February
2007
Electrical
& Electronic Engineering 30
March 2007
Civil &
Building Engineering had a Periodic Programme Review on 1 March 2007
The
detailed quantitative and qualitative data produced for each programme are held
in the department for use in future reviews and external audits. These data were reviewed at the meetings. The review is based on 2005-06 data but
discussions were also influenced by information from the current academic
year. The issues raised at the previous
years meeting were reviewed. The overall
documentation for the four departments showed many positive attributes. The summary below covers the issues raised at
the APR meetings.
1.
The
department has put considerable effort into the admissions process and there has
been a significant increase in applications and admissions at both
undergraduate and postgraduate level over the past two of years, particularly
in international students.
2.
The
department offers scholarships for MEng Students who achieve an entry standard
AAA at A level. This was particularly
successful for the 2006 intake, with 11 scholarships awarded, and this
contributed to a high quality intake.
3.
The
department is still concerned that the condition of their building hinders
recruitment. The planned improvements to
the entrance area to create an informal working space for students may
alleviate some of the problems but the department feels that further upgrades
of the accommodation are needed.
4.
The
department is still concerned at their high student/staff ratios and has
concerns about high teaching loads and ability to cover all subject areas. New staff appointments have led to an
increased number of staff but reduced teaching loads for new staff on probation
means that loads on more experienced staff remain high.
5.
The
department again achieved an excellent result in the NSS and received excellent
External Examiners’ reports.
6.
The
department has received confirmation of re-accreditation by the IChemE for the
next five years following a visit in 2005-06.
The detailed report had not been received at the time of the APR.
7.
Progression
rates were good overall although the part A pass rates were low this year
particularly on the BEng (there are relatively small numbers on this programme). The department is continuing the practice
initiated last year to use Attendant to monitor student attendance. This system helps the department to identify
the students who are not attending regularly.
1 A Department Committee, formed for
2005-06 and led by the students based on the model proposed by the Students’
Union, was a great success. The school
reported that the Committee was less proactive in 2006-07 and this illustrated
how dependent student committees were on the leadership that emerged from
within the student group.
3 A comprehensive analysis of student
feedback was provided for each programme, with clear evidence that action has
been taken where appropriate. The vast
majority of both the module and end of programme feedback was very good. A detailed report on follow up action taken
where feedback in a module was low was included in the documentation.
4 Home/EU undergraduate applications fell
significantly for 2006 entry, more than national trends , and this resulted in
a lower intake than expected but quality was maintained. The school has reviewed possible reasons for
this and the applications for 2007 intake have shown a significant recovery
although not yet back to 2005 levels.
International student recruitment rose sharply for the 2006 entry at
undergraduate level.
5 Mechanical Engineering BEng/MEng
·
In last year’s
report a large number of part A withdrawals were reported. This year the number of withdrawals has
reduced significantly. The school has
strengthened personal tutoring arrangements and provided extra lectures on
study skills, which may have contributed to this but it is thought that smaller
intake numbers also played a part..
·
The number of
students progressing from part B of the BEng without resit is still low. The school continues to monitor this but it
may in part be due to a ‘resit culture’ in the student group.
·
The measures
taken last year to increase the number of students taking a placement appear to
have been effective, with number of students on placement rising from 70 to 102.
·
The feedback
from students on the end of course questionnaire was very good. External examiners’ report very
positive.
6 Product Design and Manufacture BEng/MEng
·
Applications
halved for 2006 but the intake numbers and quality remained about the same.
·
Progression
rates are good overall.
·
Good feedback
from students, indicating the balance between engineering and design is now
about right.
·
The major
concern is falling numbers of applicants, a national problem in manufacturing
as indicated in UCAS data. There is
still a need to define more clearly the differences between the different Design
programmes offered by different departments in the University.
7 Manufacturing Engineering and Management
BEng
·
Admission
numbers are small and dropped to 8 in 2006.
However, the programme shares a large proportion of modules with the PDM
and IMT programmes,so it is viable to continue in the short term.
·
The practice
of offering changed course places on this programme to students who had failed
to progress on other school programmes has now been virtually
discontinued. This has led to a more
cohesive cohort and better progression rates.
·
The major
concern is falling numbers of applicants which is a national problem in
manufacturing as indicated in UCAS data.
8 Sports Technology BSc
·
Applications and
intake remain steady. Intake quality
maintained.
·
Progression
statistics and employment data are good.
·
There is a
problem in finding DIS placements within the sports products design and
manufacturing sector. This is partly
because there is no existing culture in the industry of taking students on
placement. The school is reviewing
whether this programme should be offered with a DIS, as it has proved difficult
to manage student expectations of a place in the sector.
9 Innovative manufacturing Technology MEng
·
Numbers remain
small (<10) but quality of intake and student progression remains high.
·
The school is
reviewing how they could improve the marketing of this programme, which has
industry sponsorship for students, to raise the intake numbers.
10 Postgraduate MSc
·
The school
runs five MSc programmes; the
Engineering Management programme, which is part time only, is no longer
recruiting.
·
Admissions were
similar to last year across the programmes.
·
There is a small Distance Learning provision and the school
sees this as potentially attractive to the
·
External
examiner reports are generally very positive.
The EE for Engineering Design and Mechatronics programmes did raise some
issues with some exam papers and their model answers. The school has dealt with these and
strengthened internal procedures. Some
of the issues arose because of the industrial action taking place at that time.
11 The school received a positive
accreditation report from a joint visit by the IMechE and IET in May 2006. The report identified a number of issues that
the visiting panel wanted the school to address. An action plan was sent to the institutions
and this has been approved and implemented.
1
The
department went through a Periodic Review last year. Some of the issues raised
there, together with some points raised by the results of the National Student
survey, were discussed at a meeting with the PVC(T), ADT and departmental staff
held on 7 November 2006. The department
produced a comprehensive written response to the issues raised and these were
again followed up at the APR meeting. As
a result of the recommendations made the department has introduced a new system
that requires all marked coursework to be independently checked to ensure there
is suitable formative feedback for students before it is returned to them. The system also monitors return dates. Also as a result of PPR, a new UG Department
student support page has been set up on Learn.
2
Applications
and intake for both the Aero and Auto undergraduate programmes were down for
the 2006 intake. This was partly due to
the increased admissions entry grades for the Auto programmes which have been
adjusted for 2007 entry. Applications
for 2007 from Home/EU students show a slight increase. There are now more competitor universities
offering Aero and Auto programmes and this is having an impact on application
numbers. The department recognises the
need to maintain its market position in the face of increased competition.
3
Overall
progression rates are satisfactory but relatively high numbers of students in
part B require resits for progression. The department has carried out an
extensive analysis of the assessment results of all modules for the past five
years, and held discussions with module leaders where results were consistently
outside expected ranges.
4
External
examiners’ reports were generally very positive about the quality of the
undergraduate programmes, but raised a number of items including checking of
exam scripts, feedback to students and weighting of project modules. All items have been considered by the department
and action taken where necessary. The
AUT action in 2006 had some impact on the QA issues associated with assessment.
5 Postgraduate MSc
Electrical and Electronic
Engineering
1
Recruitment
was again difficult in 2006 with Home/EU applications falling a further 16% on
the previous year. Applications have
fallen by 35% in the past five years, which reflects the national decline in
the subject discipline. Applications for
2007 have risen slightly and the target for home undergraduates has been
reduced, which should make the admissions process easier to manage. UCAS data shows a slight fall nationally for
2007. The department had changed the way
it manages applicants’ visits and includes a meeting in
2
A
comprehensive analysis of student feedback was presented with details of follow
up actions included. A summary of this
data is discussed at Staff Student Committees.
3
There is some
concern that core teaching in the department is delivered by four members of
staff who will be retiring over the next few years. There is also a heavy reliance on bought in
expertise in some subject areas. The
department is aware of the issue and is planning to bring new staff in ensure
coverage of the curriculum.
4
Progression
rates, particularly in part B, are relatively low, with many students needing
resits. The department has been aware of
the problem for some time. They have
identified poor lecture attendance in part B as an issue and that some students
appear to strategically ‘drop’ certain modules in the first attempt
and pass them comfortably on resit. The Student
Committee has suggested a ‘buddy’ system with Part D students mentoring
part B students. Progression rates in
parts C and D are good. .
5
Recruitment
of students to the Communications suite of MSc programmes remain strong, and
the numbers of part-time students on the Renewable Energy MSc distance learning
programmes continues to grow. The REST
programme is attracting mainly
6
The
MSc in Advanced Systems Engineering, which has in the past run as a closed
programme for part-time students from industry, is now being opened up to all
applicants. The Part D of the Systems
MEng and the MSc are being restructured to bring greater alignment.
7
The
European Masters programme in Renewable Energy has small numbers and is
difficult to manage. The viability of
this programme should be reviewed.
8
External
Examiners’ reports are very positive about overall standards on the
programme. They reported that a number
of issues raised last year have been addressed but that there was still concern
over clearly identified double marking of exam scripts.
9
The
department has set up an Academic Practice Committee, a sub-committee of its
Learning and Teaching Committee with specific responsibility for ensuring that
issues reported through Staff Student Committees are acted upon.