4.1 Staff and Students: A partnership

A crucial aspect of the University experience is that you, as an undergraduate student, are required to take responsibility for your own learning. Success on any university degree course requires a great deal of commitment and sustained effort on your part. You will become familiar with the term ‘independent learner’, which reflects the expectation that you will be the driving force behind your own learning. As an independent learner, you are expected to (i) be motivated to learn, (ii) manage your own learning, and (iii) reflect on your learning. As staff, our role is to act as sources of expert knowledge and academic support, which you can make use of to achieve your educational goals.

The Student Charter

Our Student Charter, developed jointly by the University and the Students’ Union, is an important part of how we establish and maintain clear mutual expectations for the experience of all students: undergraduate and postgraduate. It sets out what we can expect from each other as partners in a learning community. The Charter establishes staff and student commitments under the following headings:

  • Our learning experience
  • Personal and academic development
  • Communicating and interacting with each other
  • Respecting and valuing each other
  • Being part of our community

Please familiarise yourself with the Student Charter, which is accessible here:

http://www.yoursay.manchester.ac.uk/student-charter/

4.2 Modes of Study

Lectures          

For most course units on the programme, lectures are the starting point for learning about a subject.  The type of content will vary according to the topic area; some will provide a broad introduction, while others will have a narrower focus and present a more detailed overview. A copy of the slides will be provided on Blackboard (see section 7.2) in advance of all lectures and the majority of students choose to bring either a printed or electronic copy. The level of detail provided in lecture slides varies between course units and you will usually want to make additional notes. Please do not be afraid to ask questions during lectures; you can ask for clarification if you have found something difficult to understand or for a point to be repeated if it was inaudible. If you are uncomfortable doing this during the lecture you can approach the lecturer at the end of the class or contact her/him by e-mail.

After the lecture you are expected to build your knowledge and understanding of the lecture content with independent reading and study. Alternatively, some students find it useful to attend lectures already having done relevant reading on the topic and, in some course units; preparatory reading is a specific requirement. Recommended texts are usually listed in the course unit outlines, but individual lectures will often direct you to extra, and usually more specific, reading. It is most important that you keep up with this reading, rather than leaving too much to do around coursework deadlines, or for the examination period.

Lab Classes

Lab classes enable you to gain practical experience of, and develop expertise in, the techniques of empirical work and report writing. In these classes you will learn how to develop research hypotheses, design studies which can address those hypotheses, gain an understanding of the practicalities of data collection, analyse your own data and draw inferences from them. You will also be given guidance on how to write up the results of empirical work in the form of research reports. Over the course of the degree you will produce a number of assessed research reports and will receive written feedback on this work. Additionally you will participate in studies as a ‘participant’ (see Section 2.4: Student Experiment Participation Scheme). 

Seminars

Some course units in Years 1 and 2, and the majority in Final Year, have a seminar programme to accompany the lectures. The aim of these seminars is to provide an opportunity for you to actively engage with the content of the lectures in smaller groups. You will take part in a variety of activities in seminars, designed to give you the chance to discuss, evaluate, apply and consolidate your understanding of the learning material. 

Tutorials

Tutorials, running as part of the Professional Development unit in Year 1, are designed to support you in the transition to Higher Education and to encourage you to think about planning for your future beyond the degree. These small group sessions, supported by a tutor, focus on academic skill development in Semester 1 and early career preparation in Semester 2.

Practical Classes

Statistics Practical classes complement the lectures on statistics in Years 1 and 2, and provide opportunities to practice your skills while having staff and demonstrators on hand to answer questions and clarify difficulties.

Reading Groups

Compulsory reading groups run in Final Year to support you to understand and evaluate journal articles that are particularly relevant to the related course unit. You will be provided with the references for the articles in advance, and are expected to have located and read these articles before the group meets. Because these reading groups focus on key journal articles associated with the course lectures, they act as supported revision and are particularly useful preparation for Final Year assessments.

4.3 Work and Attendance

Attendance at scheduled teaching sessions is not viewed by the University as a matter of choice and you are normally expected to attend all the classes for which you are enrolled. There is plenty of evidence to show that students who do not attend do not perform as well as those that do and the teaching and learning on each unit has been designed with your participation in mind.

How attendance is monitored

We are required to monitor attendance for all students and will do this by asking you to complete a register in all small group sessions (seminars, reading groups, tutorials and labs). If you are not present for a session where attendance is monitored you will be recorded as absent. If you have informed us of your absence, using the procedures set out below, this will be recorded as ‘notified absence’; if you have not informed us, this will be recorded as ‘unnotified absence’.

Reporting absence

You must report all foreseeable absences in advance of the session(s) to be missed, by sending an email to the following address: sps.attendance@manchester.ac.uk. Your email must include your name, your student number, a list of the sessions you will miss (e.g. PSYC10711 Seminar Week 3, PSYC10211 Lecture Week 11) and the reason you are missing the session.  If you are unable to inform us prior to your absence, you must email as soon as possible after it (to avoid the absence being recorded as unexcused).

  • Absence for a single session: send one email containing the details of that session
  • Absence for a full day (missing multiple sessions): send one email including the details of each session missed
  • Absence lasting between 2 and 4 days: send a new email on each day of absence, detailing the sessions you will be missing that day
  • Absence lasting 5 days or more: send one email detailing the period of absence and submit mitigating circumstances supported by appropriate evidence (see Section 6)

You may also want to contact your Academic Advisor if you are absent for an extended period, for guidance and advice. However, please be aware that it is your responsibility to catch up with any work you have missed as a result of absence.

Procedures for dealing with absence

If you are identified as having a high level of  unnotified absences, you be contacted by the administration office in the first instance, to provide a justification.  If you fail to respond, or are recorded as having further unnotified absences, your Academic Advisor will be informed.  We will also inform your Academic Advisor if you accumulate multiple notified absences. Your Academic Advisor will contact you to establish the reasons for your poor attendance, to provide support if you are experiencing difficulties and to establish a strategy for improving your attendance. If this intervention is not successful (for example, if you do not engage with your Advisor, or if your attendance does not improve), they will refer you to the Work and Attendance Committee.

Unsatisfactory work

As an independent learner, you are responsible for monitoring your learning and achievement on the course. If you are concerned about your progress, you can contact your Academic Advisor or Year Tutor for support at any time. Your Academic Advisor will also prompt you to reflect on your achievement during one-to-one meetings, presenting a good opportunity to share any concerns you have. We review the performance of students after each examination period. If we identify that your performance puts you at risk of failing to meet the standards for progression, you will be invited to attend a meeting a Work and Attendance meeting.

The Work and Attendance Committee

The committee consists of the Programme Director, Examinations Officer, Year Tutors and the Teaching and Learning Manager. Its remit is to review the work and attendance of students and to make recommendations to the Exam Board which may impact on the student’s progression. Students referred to this committee will be required to attend a meeting to review their attendance and/or academic achievement. This meeting provides an opportunity to discuss the standard of your work, to identify any barriers to your achievement and to establish a strategy for improving the standard of your work. Based on the outcome of this meeting, you may be issued with a formal warning for poor work and/or attendance. If your work and/or attendance remains unsatisfactory following this warning, the committee can recommend that you are refused the right to resit failed assessments, which may prevent you from obtaining the credit necessary for progression and result in you being withdrawn from the programme (see Undergraduate Degree Regulations, section F22.).

If you are studying under a Tier 4 visa permission, you should note that once a withdrawal has been completed on the University’s Student System, you will be reported to the UKVI and will be required to leave the UK within 60 days of the withdrawal date.

Attendance at examinations

You are expected to sit ALL examinations and online assessments for your degree programme and to submit ALL coursework assignments by the deadline specified.  Absence from examinations must be reported following the steps outlined in section 3.4.4 and will need to be supported by a Mitigating Circumstances Form and supporting evidence.

Further information about work and attendance of students is given in Regulation XX – Work and Attendance of Students, which is available from the following website:

http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=1895

4.4 Student Experiment Participation Scheme (SEPS)

The Student Experiment Participation Scheme (SEPS) is well established in our programme and is similar to schemes adopted by Undergraduate Psychology courses in other universities.  SEPS aims to provide an opportunity for students to gain first-hand experience of participating in psychological research. It is envisaged that students will apply what they have learnt to their own research during lab classes in 1st and 2nd year, and ultimately to their final year project. In addition, SEPS ensures that Final Year students have access to a pool of research participants, something that all students will benefit from upon reaching their final year.

SEPS is an assessed element of the Professional Development unit in Year 1 and the Career Management/Short Work Placement units in Year 2. Students are required to collect a specified number of SEPS credits in Years 1 and 2 to pass this assessment component (please refer to the relevant unit outline, which can be found in your syllabus booklet or on the unit Blackboard space).

Please note: SEPS credits are distinct from course credits (see section 4.1 for details about course credits).

SEPS credits are assigned to research studies run by Final Year students, research staff or postgraduate students. Each study is allocated SEPS credits based on the length of time required for participation, with 15 minutes of participation equating to 1 SEPS credit.  All research studies have been scrutinised for adherence to the BPS ethical guidelines, and will have an ‘ethics code’ showing that it has been deemed suitable. All studies will be advertised using the SONA system and students should access SONA to book a participation slot via the following link http://manchester-psych.sona-systems.com/. Please be aware that if you volunteer for a study without going through the SONA system, you will not receive SEPS credits for your participation.

If you are unable to attend a study which you have signed-up for, it is your responsibility to contact the researcher to cancel your participation (see the SONA Participant Handbook for guidance). If you fail to attend or cancel a study which you have signed up for this will be classed as an unexcused no-show and you will receive a 4 credit penalty. Following 4 unexcused no-shows you will be blocked from the SONA system, meaning that you will not be able to sign-up for further studies. Students who are blocked before collecting the required credits will fail this component of the course. If you are unable to attend or cancel a pre-booked study for unavoidable reasons, you should complete and submit a SEPS Mitigating Circumstances Form (available from the Psychology Office) as soon as possible. Based on the evidence provided, a decision will be taken about whether to allow such students access to the SONA system in order to sign-up for further studies.

An alternative coursework assignment will be available for students not wishing to participate in research studies. You must confirm your decision to opt-out by emailing psycredits@manchester.ac.uk by 5pm on Friday Week 5; it will not be possible to opt-out after this time.

Passing the SEPS scheme is a requirement of the relevant course units. If you fail to earn the required SEPS credits (or complete the alternative assignment), you will fail the course unit. Students who fail the scheme, but who qualify for resit assessment (see section 3.1.3), will be given an opportunity to complete a ‘resit’ assignment during the summer examination period, in order to obtain the required course credits for progression to the next year of study. If you have achieved fewer than 50% of the required SEPS credits, in addition to being required to pass a resit assignment, your grade for the relevant unit will be capped at 40%.

For students who have opted out of research participation by the Week 5 deadline, failing to complete the alternative assignment will result in failing the course unit. You will be required to complete a resit assighment and your mark for the unit will be capped at 40%.

The guidelines for SEPS will be outlined for 1st year students in the Professional Development unit lectures and instructions will be available on Blackboard. There is also a dedicated e-mail address for all queries relating to this scheme:

psycredits@manchester.ac.uk

4.5 Academic Appeals

Students thinking of appealing the decision of the examinations board should first discuss the matter informally with the Exams Officer or Year Tutor, in order to better understand the reason for the result or decision. Should you wish to proceed to a formal appeal, this must be submitted within 20 working days of notification of the result or decision to Kevin Hewitt, Teaching and Learning Advisor (Student Appeals, Complaints, Discipline and Fitness to Practise), Room 3.21, Simon Building, University of Manchester, M13 9PL (e- mail: kevin.hewitt@manchester.ac.uk).

The full Academic Appeals Procedure (Regulation XIX) and associated documents, including the form  on  which  formal  appeals  should  be  submitted,  can  be  found at www.regulations.manchester.ac.uk/academic