Admission Criteria

Candidates must be able to satisfy the general admission requirements of the University of the West of Scotland as specified in Chapter 2 of the University Regulatory Framework together with the following programme requirements:

SQA National Qualifications

Year 1: HIGHERS: BBBC including Chemistry plus English and Mathematics at SCQF Level 5 (eg National 5, Standard Grade (Grade 3 or above), Intermediate 2)

Year 2: ADVANCED HIGHERS: BBC including Chemistry plus English and Mathematics at SCQF Level 5 (eg National 5, Standard Grade (Grade 3 or above), Intermediate 2)

Before progressing to Year 3, students must meet the following requirements:

English at SCQF Level 6 (eg Higher)
Mathematics at SCQF Level 5 (eg National 5, Standard Grade (Grade 1 or 2), Intermediate 2)

or GCE

Year 1: A-LEVEL: CDD including Chemistry plus GCSE (Grade C or above) English and Mathematics

Year 2: A-LEVEL: BBC including Chemistry plus GCSE (Grade C or above) English and Mathematics and at least one science subject.

Before progressing to Year 3, students must meet the following requirements:

GCSE English Language and English Literature at C or above
GCSE Mathematics at B or above

or SQA National Qualifications/Edexcel Foundation

Year 1: Access to Science - BBB including Chemistry.

Year 2: HNC/BTEC LEVEL 4: Chemistry, or related subject.

Year 3: HND/BTEC LEVEL 5/FOUNDATION DEGREE: Chemistry or related subject.

Before progressing to Year 3, students must meet the following requirements:

Acceptable alternatives to the English and Mathematics qualifications listed above are given in the Memorandum on Entry Requirements to Programmes of Initial Teacher Education in Scotland (General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), 2013).

Other Required Qualifications/Experience

Year 1: Irish Leaving Certificate: H3H3H3H4 including Chemistry or International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma: 27 points including Chemistry.

Year 2: International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma: 30 points (including Chemistry and 1 science with 4 subjects at Higher).

* Science subjects: Psychology, Maths, Geography, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Human Biology

Before progressing to Year 3, students must successfully undertake an interview conducted by School of Education staff.

Students who are offered the opportunity to progress to Year 3 of this programme must apply for and obtain membership of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme before enrolment.

Further desirable skills pre-application

Experience of working with young people and up-to-date knowledge and understanding of secondary education in Scotland will aid progression to Year 3 of this programme.

General Overview

The BSc (Hons) Chemistry with Education programme is designed to fulfil the requirements of the QAA subject benchmark statement for Chemistry (2014), the Guidelines for Initial Teacher Education Programmes in Scotland (GTCS, 2013), the benchmark statement for Standard for Provisional Registration (GTCS, 2012) and the QAA subject benchmark statement for Education Studies (2015).

The overall aim of the programme is to develop individuals with a range of transferable graduate skills who will acquire Honours-level knowledge and skills in Chemistry alongside attaining the Standard for Provisional Registration, and thus be eligible to apply for provisional registration with GTCS and entry to the Teacher Induction Scheme as a secondary school teacher of Chemistry with Science.

The programme teaches the fundamentals of Chemistry as a core science and laboratory sessions develop practical and communication skills. Across the four years of the programme, increasingly complex understanding of principal aspects of chemistry – organic, inorganic, analytical and physical – is developed. Depth of knowledge across a broad range of topics supports the teaching of senior phase courses up to Advanced Higher level.

The study of Education is introduced in year three with a focus on key educational issues, cross-cutting curricular themes, contexts for learning and professional values.  Knowledge and understanding of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment of Chemistry and General Science, and the skills and abilities to implement effective teaching and learning, are developed in year four, through campus teaching and school experience placements.

In accordance with the relevant benchmarks, graduates will have demonstrated the attributes, knowledge and skills encompassed by the following core areas:

Professional Values and Personal Commitment
The core values defined as Social Justice, Integrity, Trust and Respect, and Personal Commitment, which are integral to, and demonstrated through, all professional relationships and practices.

Professional Knowledge and Understanding
The knowledge and understanding of Chemistry and General Science within the secondary curriculum, including contexts for learning to fulfil their responsibilities in literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing and interdisciplinary learning; the principal features of the education system and their own professional responsibilities within the learning communities in which they will teach; relevant educational principles and pedagogical theories; and the importance of research in informing professional practice.

Professional Skills and Abilities
The ability to design, deliver and assess effective, appropriate and stimulating programmes of work in Chemistry and General Science within the secondary curriculum that are suitable for children at different stages of secondary education; and to use reading, research and feedback from a range of sources to inform effective self-evaluation and maintain a record of professional learning and development culminating in an Initial Professional Development Action Plan.

The programme will encourage the student to engage in lifelong learning, study and enquiry and to appreciate the value of education to society. It will also assist the student to develop the skills required for both autonomous practice and team-working.

Opportunities for further study

The Standard for Provisional Registration is part of a suite of professional standards published by GTCS (2012). Individuals obtaining Provisional Registration aim to progress to Full Registration and are then expected to continue to develop their expertise through ‘appropriate and sustained career long professional learning’ (GTCS, 2012). The suite of professional standards may be used to guide this learning and includes, for example, the Standards for Leadership and Management. Non-award-bearing courses have always formed an important part of professional development and update for teachers, but many opportunities exist at Masters level and above in subjects and areas relevant to schools and the wider world of education.

Honours graduates may also choose to pursue further study of Chemistry through MSc or PhD programmes at this or other universities.

Teaching, learning and assessment

Lectures, tutorials, workshops, laboratory classes and use of the Moodle VLE, employing a range of learning and teaching methodologies including group work, investigations, problem-based learning, concept visualisation (eg using drawing and collage), walking, student presentations, online tutor/student-led discussions, and resources such as subject-specific equipment, interactive whiteboards, laptops and the outdoors, will be used, as appropriate, to develop student learning. In order to enable students from the BSc (Hons) Chemistry with Education, BSc (Hons) Physics with Education, PGDE (Secondary) and PGDE (Primary) programmes to benefit from working together, the School & Professional Studies (L9) module will be delivered through a blended approach using the Moodle VLE and some face-to-face lectures, tutorials and workshops. Within the Moodle VLE, students will make use of e-learning methods such as remotely accessing set and extension readings and other course materials, and online and asynchronous communication with peers, and supported by tutors, to address problem-based learning tasks. Students are required to undertake significant independent learning in each module.

Student handbooks and other material made available to students will give more detailed information on the particular learning and teaching methodologies, and combinations of these methodologies, to be used for timetabled student sessions. This will clarify for students both their expectations for timetabled sessions, and their expectations for the overall balance of learning and teaching methodologies to be used during the programme.

On-going formative assessment across the programme will provide feedback to students on their developing thinking on subject knowledge and skills, educational issues and professional abilities. Summative assessment of academic study will take the form of essays, project reports, oral presentations, problem sheets and examinations. Assessment of school experience is outlined under Work Based Learning/Placement Details.

Graduate Attributes, Employability & Personal Development Planning

The programme is designed to develop students’ range of skills and attributes that are transferable to other areas of study and professional employment, including: knowing how to access and apply relevant research findings; practising in a range of professional contexts, which include a degree of unpredictability; communicating effectively, both orally and in writing, with a range of audiences; engaging in professional dialogue with peers and senior colleagues; constructing and sustaining reasoned and coherent arguments about professional practices; undertaking critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis of ideas, concepts, information and issues; justifying personal opinions by referring to appropriate evidence from a range of sources; reflecting on and acting to improve the effectiveness of their own practice; adopting an enquiring approach to professional practice, demonstrating some originality and creativity in finding solutions to professional issues; exercising autonomy and initiative in professional activities; working with others and, at times, taking a leading role; and dealing with complex ethical and professional issues in accordance with current professional and/or ethical codes of practice.

Personal Development Planning (PDP) is central to the programme, which aims to develop in every student the professional qualities and capabilities of a reflective practitioner. At Level 7, PDP/transferable skills development is an important part of the core module, Scientific Investigation. The aim is to enable students to become familiar with the ePortfolio that will be used, and to identify and evaluate their own range of skills and aspirations. From Level 7 to 9, exercises used for PDP/transferable skills development will be drawn from core module provision, to ensure that there is a strong link between PDP and the curriculum. In all aspects of PDP, the emphasis will be on students taking personal responsibility for their PDP portfolio, with support from staff as appropriate to each level.

The timetabled PDP sessions will be associated with the following core modules for the BSc (Hons) Chemistry with Education programme:

Level 7           Trimester 1    Structure of Chemistry                    
                     Trimester 2    Chemistry and Reactions
                     Trimester 2    Scientific Investigation

Level 8           Trimester 1    Physical Chemistry 2
                     Trimester 2    Chemical Analysis & Evaluation

Level 9           Trimester 1    Inorganic Chemistry 3
                     Trimester 1    Physical Chemistry 3
                     Trimester 2    Introduction to Drug Design 

Level 10         Trimester 1    Secondary School Experience
                     Trimester 2    Secondary School Experience

At Level 10, while the PDP process is formally embedded within the Secondary School Experience module and is linked to target setting and evaluation on placement, students will also be encouraged to reflect on personal and professional learning in academic work and its impact on developing practice and progress towards achievement of the Standard for Provisional Registration. The PDP process will culminate in the production of an Initial Professional Development Action Plan.

Upon graduation and provisional registration with the GTCS, graduates are eligible for entry to the Teacher Induction Scheme. This scheme is administered by the GTCS, in partnership with the Scottish Learning Directorate, and provides a guaranteed one-year probationary post to every eligible student.

Work Based Learning/Placement Details

In compliance with the requirements of the GTCS, a total of eighteen weeks, or ninety days, is devoted to school experience, occurring in each school term, with a block of at least four weeks taking place towards the end of the programme, in secondary school environments.

At the end of Level 9 and early in Level 10, students will undertake two-week observation placements in order to establish links between theory and practice. Student handbooks and other very detailed materials made available to students will set out the requirements and expectations of the three substantial periods of school experience, including the maintenance of the teaching file. During each placement, students will monitor their progress through target-setting and evaluation in a personal development plan.

Following formative assessment of the first substantial period of school experience, the two subsequent placements will be assessed summatively by the partner school and the visiting University tutor. In addition to written feedback, students will receive Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory grades for each of the eight benchmark areas of the Standard for Provisional Registration. Assessment of the module is on a pass/fail basis, dependent upon satisfactory or unsatisfactory performance in school. The overall assessment of pass or fail is achieved by totalling the grades awarded by the partner school and those awarded by the University tutor.

To assure placement partners that students are appropriately prepared to undertake periods of school experience, and in accordance with module and programme handbooks, any student whose attendance has fallen below the 75% minimum requirement for Secondary STEM Subject Studies and Secondary School Experience during any of the three blocks of campus study preceding the periods of school experience (and who is therefore deemed to be unprepared for a period of school experience) will normally be required to undertake a period of further preparation (on campus) when other students are on placement. UWS Regulation 5.7 also applies to periods of school experience, and it should be noted that any student whose attendance has fallen below the 75% minimum requirement may be deemed not to have met the professional requirements of the programme as accredited by the GTCS and, therefore, may not be eligible for assessment on that placement. In either case, the required school experience placement would normally be completed in the August/September diet following that academic year of study.

Engagement

In line with the Academic Engagement Procedure, Students are defined as academically engaged if they are regularly engaged with timetabled teaching sessions, course-related learning resources including those in the Library and on the relevant learning platform, and complete assessments and submit these on time.

Equality and Diversity

The University's Equality, Diversity and Human Rights Procedure can be accessed at the following link: UWS Equality and Diversity Policy

Knowledge and Understanding

Practice - Applied Knowledge and Understanding

Communication, ICT and Numeracy Skills

Generic Cognitive Skills - Problem Solving, Analysis, Evaluation

Autonomy, Accountability and Working With Others

Knowledge and Understanding

Practice - Applied Knowledge and Understanding

Communication, ICT and Numeracy Skills

Generic Cognitive Skills - Problem Solving, Analysis, Evaluation

Autonomy, Accountability and Working With Others

Knowledge and Understanding

Practice - Applied Knowledge and Understanding

Communication, ICT and Numeracy Skills

Generic Cognitive Skills - Problem Solving, Analysis, Evaluation

Autonomy, Accountability and Working With Others

Knowledge and Understanding

Practice - Applied Knowledge and Understanding

Communication, ICT and Numeracy Skills

Generic Cognitive Skills - Problem Solving, Analysis, Evaluation

Autonomy, Accountability and Working With Others

Regulations of Assessment

Candidates will be bound by the general assessment regulations of the University as specified in the University Regulatory Framework.

An overview of the assessment details is provided in the Student Handbook and the assessment criteria for each module is provided in the module descriptor which forms part of the module pack issued to students. For further details on assessment please refer to Chapter 3 of the Regulatory Framework.

To qualify for an award of the University, students must complete all the programme requirements and must meet the credit minima detailed in Chapter 1 of the Regulatory Framework.

Combined Studies

There may be instances where a student has been unsuccessful in meeting the award criteria for the named award and for other more generic named awards existing within the School. Provided that they have met the credit requirements in line with the SCQF credit minima (please see Regulation 1.21), they will be eligible for an exit award of CertHE / DipHE or BA / BSc in Combined Studies.

For students studying BA, BAcc, or BD awards the award will be BA Combined Studies.

For students studying BEng or BSc awards, the award will be BSc Combined Studies.