Loughborough University
Leicestershire, UK
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Loughborough University

Programme Specifications

Programme Specification

MSc Programmes in Ergonomics and Human Factors (2013 entry onwards)

Academic Year: 2014/15

This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if full advantage is taken of the learning opportunities that are provided.

This specification applies to delivery of the programme in the Academic Year indicated above. Prospective students reviewing this information for a later year of study should be aware that these details are subject to change as outlined in our Terms and Conditions of Study.

This specification should be read in conjunction with:

  • Summary
  • Aims
  • Learning outcomes
  • Structure
  • Progression & weighting

Programme summary

Awarding body/institution Loughborough University
Teaching institution (if different)
Owning school/department Loughborough Design School - pre 2019
Details of accreditation by a professional/statutory body

The Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors

Final award MSc
Programme title Programmes in: • Ergonomics (Human Factors) • Human Factors in Transport • Human Factors for Inclusive Design • Ergonomics in Health and Community Care
Programme code DSPT11 to DSPT18
Length of programme
UCAS code N/A
Admissions criteria

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/courses/departments/design/ergonomicshumanfactors/

Date at which the programme specification was published Wed, 11 Jun 2014 22:42:15 BST

1. Programme Aims

Generic aims of the programmes: 

  • to enhance students' prospects of entering the ergonomics profession;
  • to provide a stimulating, fair, friendly and supportive environment to enhance learning;
  • to provide a high quality teaching and learning programmes in the above-mentioned areas of Human Factors/Ergonomics at the postgraduate level, approved by the University, moderated under external examination;
  • to develop ergonomics competencies in critical and practical skills and scientific methods necessary for professional practice and for entry to further research training through teaching by research active staff;
  • to involve, where appropriate, industry, the public sector and the professions in teaching and to encourage students to engage in the opportunities offered by the wider ergonomics and other relevant professions;
  • to enable students to develop key transferable skills such as in the use of information technology, project planning and implementation, interpersonal skills for team work, communication skills and self-directed study appropriate for life-long learning and continuing professional development.

Specific aims of the programmes:

The four streams share common core Ergonomics content as required for accreditation.  All streams are accredited by the Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors and, when combined with 2 further years of relevant professional experience, enables membership of the Society as a Registered Member. 

.1    Ergonomics (Human Factors)

The programme is designed to provide a broad ergonomics education including an optional module and specialist project for in-depth study.

.2     Human Factors in Transport

The programme is designed to provide a human factors education focusing on design and use of vehicles within a systems context. 

.3    Human Factors for Inclusive Design

The programme is designed to provide a human factors education focusing on human needs in design applications, including systems, workplaces and artefacts, including information and communications devices.  User-centred methods will be included. The programme will incorporate specific study of human requirements, including not only the able bodied adult but also the young, the aged and those who are disabled and consider cultural implications. 

.4    Ergonomics in Health and Community Care

The programme is designed to provide a broad ergonomics education to suit the requirements of Health Professionals (including physiotherapists, patient handling advisors and occupational therapists), focusing on those aspects concerned with promoting healthy and safe working, and in public and domestic environments. It will also focus on investigations relevant to understanding and intervening in these situations with the goal of improving conditions for those exposed.

 

2. Relevant subject benchmark statements and other external reference points used to inform programme outcomes:

  • requirements of the Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors which undertakes monitoring, and performs a full review periodically for the relevant programme titles;
  • for Ergonomics in Health and Community Care, the requirements of the professional body ‘National Back Exchange’;
  • requirements of the International Ergonomics Association;

3. Programme Learning Outcomes

3.1 Knowledge and Understanding

Students will gain generic ergonomics knowledge, understanding and competencies as follows: 
  • Psychological ergonomics: cognitive psychology, occupational psychology, behaviour including organisational behaviour, perception, task analysis;
  • Physical ergonomics: including anthropometry, physical work place assessment and related methods and biomechanics, anatomy and physiology;
  • Design ergonomics:  theoretical and practical aspects of design for human use, including equipment and products, the work place and systems;
  • Experimental design and data interpretation: experimental design and analysis, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, methods and issues concerned with understanding the needs of users;
  • Systems ergonomics
  • Professional aspects (user studies and ergonomics projects):  planning and implementation of ergonomics projects, carrying out an ergonomics project and reporting the outcome (for the masters programme), the moral, ethical and legal issues that underpin best practice when involving human participants / users in ergonomics studies;

 

3.1.1 Ergonomics (Human Factors) 

Students will further gain knowledge, understanding and competencies as follows: 

  • Environmental ergonomics:  the thermal environment, lighting, vision, noise and vibration, air quality, dust, and relevant assessment methods;
  • Professional aspects (ergonomics practice): professional practice in ergonomics including critical review and evaluation, legislative issues and principals of ergonomics standards (BS, ISO); to understand the need for synthesis and an ability to synthesise knowledge and competences when addressing ergonomics issues (through exposure to contemporary ergonomics work)
  • One option for study of specialist topics in ergonomics will also be available in areas of contemporary relevance for the profession, as available in the Post-Graduate modular field reflecting the research interests of staff.
  • Opportunity for specialisation is provided through the choice of project.

 3.1.2 Human Factors in Transport 

Students will further gain knowledge, understanding and competencies as follows: 

  • Environmental ergonomics:  the thermal environment, lighting, vision, noise and vibration, air quality, dust and relevant assessment methods;
  • Transport ergonomics: understanding the human factors of transport, including transport systems, vehicle design, information provision, developing and specifying user requirements and accident investigation; an ability to critically review and evaluate transport solutions when developing user requirements.  A knowledge of legislation and standards affecting transport;
  • A project in the area of ‘Transport’ will allow for in-depth study and specialisation. 

3.1.3 Human Factors for Inclusive Design 

  • Inclusive design, including knowledge of ageing outcomes and of disability ergonomics; knowledge of and the ability to obtain user-centred design information; to understand the need for synthesis and an ability to synthesise knowledge and competences when addressing the human factors issues in design; implementation of ergonomics in design;
  • Occupational health and safety: safety of artefacts, work-places and systems including legislative issues and ergonomics standards (BSI, ISO); health issues
  • A project in the area of ‘Inclusive Design’ will allow for in-depth study and specialisation. 

3.1.4 Ergonomics in Health and Community Care 

  • Ergonomics of disability and ageing, including inclusive design;
  • Patient handling and medical errors;
  • Occupational health and safety: safety of artefacts, work-places and systems including legislative issues and ergonomics standards (BSI, ISO); health issues; accident evaluation and analysis; to understand the need for synthesis and an ability to synthesise knowledge and competences when addressing ergonomics issues
  • A project in the area of ‘Healthcare Ergonomics’ will allow for in-depth study and specialisation.

3.2 Skills and other attributes

a. Subject-specific cognitive skills:

On successful completion of the programmes, students should, in the context of each programme, be able to: 

  • demonstrate evidence-based reasoning and make critical judgements about ergonomic issues;
  • demonstrate an ability to apply knowledge gained in one area to a cognate problem in another, usually the programme’s specific area;
  • find, assess, abstract and synthesise ergonomics evidence from a variety of sources, including detection of patterns and evaluation of significance in ergonomics data;
  • analyse and present with confidence, quantitative and qualitative evidence;
  • demonstrate competence in ergonomic skills through practical activities;
  • initiate, design, conduct and report an empirically-based project in the programme’s specialisation, recognising its theoretical, practical and methodological implications and limitations;
  • understand the ethical context of ergonomics as a discipline and demonstrate this in relation to their own work;
  • demonstrate a human-centred approach to ergonomics studies, application and evaluation.
b. Subject-specific practical skills:

On successful completion of their programmes, students should, in the context of the programme, be able to: 

  • observe, record accurately and give an objective account of human action in both laboratory and real-world settings;
  • design and execute an experiment which compares behaviour or experience under at least two conditions of at least one experimental variable;
  • develop ergonomics specifications in the context of the specific programme;
  • collect and organise quantitative and qualitative data, undertake appropriate analyses, and abstract and interpret relevant information;
  • communicate ergonomics concepts, information and requirements and project proposals and outcomes in a variety of forms including through writing and orally and for different audiences;
  • act professionally and in accordance with ethical propriety.
c. Key transferable skills:

On successful completion of the programmes, students should be able to achieve the following: 

  • Information Technology:  use instructional material (eg, experimental demonstrations) and research tools (eg,. statistical packages) on computers, and search for relevant material on the internet;
  • Numeracy:  collect data in numerical form, present it in tables and graphs, and analyse it with a range of statistical tools;
  • Problem Solving:  clarify questions, consider alternative solutions and evaluate outcomes;
  • Communication Skills:  write or speak clearly to topic; to draft, edit and polish presentations; to contribute actively to group discussion;
  • Management Skills: manage a project, including its interfaces with its context; control meetings, write reports, demonstrate key skills, understand training and skills issues;
  • Professional Behaviour: acting in a manner appropriate to professional circumstances;
  • Teamwork:  share responsibility for a task with others; agree common goals and methods to achieve them; co-ordinate the use of common resources;
  • Manage Self-Learning: seek out sources of information, plan time to make the best use of resources and review priorities in the light of deadlines.

4. Programme structure

The following award titles are available and include components from the table below: Ergonomics (Human Factors):  MSc, PGDip, PGCert

Human Factors in Transport:  MSc, PGDip, PGCert

Human Factors for Inclusive Design:  MSc, PGDip, PGCert

Ergonomics in Health and Community Care:  MSc, PGDip, PGCert

4.1       Taught modules

 

Module Code and Title

 

Cr

Ergonomics

(Human Factors)

Human Factors

for Inclusive

Design

Ergonomics in 

Health and Community Care

Human Factors in Transport

DSP119 - Healthcare

Ergonomics and Patient Safety

15

O

X

C

X

DSP120 - Patient handling

15

X

X

C

X

DSP101 - Introduction to

Ergonomics

15

C

C

C

C

DSP102 - Human Factors and

Systems

15

C

C

C

C

DSP103 - Human Function

15

C

C

C

C

DSP104 - Environmental

Ergonomics

15

C

C

X

C

DSP105 - Health at Work

15

C

C

C

C

DSP106 - Data collection and analysis

15

C

C

C

C

DSP114 - Disability Ageing and Inclusive design

15

O

C

C

X

DSP117 - Driver and Vehicle

Ergonomics

15

O

X

X

C

DSP118 - Human Computer

Interaction

15

C

C

X

C

 

(C = compulsory, X = not available, O = optional)

 

4.2       Project*

 

Module

Code

Module Title

Cr

Ergonomics (Human Factors)

Human Factors for Inclusive Design

Ergonomics in Health and Community Care

 Human Factors in Transport

DSP100

Project

60

compulsory

compulsory

compulsory

compulsory

 

* Compulsory for the award of MSc.  Not undertaken for the award of a postgraduate diploma or certificate.

4.3       Compulsory modules may be replaced with alternate options at the discretion of the Programme Director where evidence is available of successful prior study as necessary to meet the requirements of the Ergonomics profession.

4.4       Sufficient modules must be selected to bring the total credits to 120 in addition to the

Project (DSP100) which is required for the award of MSc.

4.5       For students on the Human Factors for Inclusive Design, Ergonomics in Health and Community Care and Human Factors in Transport degree programmes, the project must be in a topic area appropriate to their degree title.

5. Criteria for Progression and Degree Award

In order to be eligible for an award, candidates must meet the requirements specified in Regulation XXI.

6. Relative Weighting of Parts of the Programme for the Purposes of Final Degree Classification

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