3.1 Residential and Online Inductions

We find that students greatly benefit from a formal induction to the programme before they start studying. We provide this in two different ways: firstly, through a four-day residential at the beginning of the first semester, and secondly, through an online induction.

The residential is designed to orient students to all aspects of the online course and is a good opportunity to meet staff and other students. Our eLearning team will be on hand to demonstrate how our online resources work, and will also be available on the day and afterwards by telephone and e-mail to provide further technical support. Our administration team will also be there to help deal with registration issues.

For students who cannot attend the residential we provide an online induction. This includes a short online induction session with our e-Learning technologists, academic staff and administrators. These will supplement the residential materials and presentations posted on the website. Details of date and time will be sent to new students in September, and a recording made available following the session.
 

3.2 Books

Some courses have one required core textbook, with all other reading material being accessed through the university online library or the internet. The details of these books are found on the course unit outlines on My Manchester.

• Once you have logged on, look for the ‘Home’ tab of the portal
• The second tab along will be the ‘My Course’ tab;
• You should be able to see the ‘Course unit information’ portlet towards the bottom of this page

Please note that the majority of required books are now available as e-books held in the university library. These are available to all students. Additional information about how to access and use e-books will be given in the individual unit, where necessary.
 

3.3 Method of Study

Most of our teaching is entirely web-based with a high degree of student-led learning through interactive exercises to test understanding built into the web-based teaching materials, and exercises and assignments involving seeking out and retrieving information from a range of web-based resources.

There will be opportunities for student–student and student–tutor interaction through dedicated discussion groups. There will be web-based course material with links to external web resources such as reports, academic papers, other teaching materials and case studies.

Some units have exercises based around group work (using discussion boards or WIKI’s). These are developed around learning objectives for the particular unit. In addition they satisfy the skills-based learning objectives common to many public health curricula i.e. planning and managing a project and working as part of a team to deliver a project.

These courses are modular, meaning that each year you can choose to study a selection of units, which will count towards your degree. Units start twice a year: first in September in the first semester, then again in February in the second semester. The maximum number of units that can be taken per semester is four for full time students, or two for part time students. If a part time student wishes to take more than 2 units in a semester, they must seek prior approval from the Programme Director before going ahead. All units run over 15 weeks: 10 devoted to teaching and five to assignment preparation and writing. Most units cover 8-10 different topics in this time. Each unit is expected to take students 10 hours of study per week. Although you work through these units independently in your own home, it is good to follow the teaching weeks, as the online discussions and assignments are linked to particular dates and topics. A unit specific calendar can be found in the introduction week of all units. Some of these online discussions may be assessed and marked. You are advised to make a note of all the dates of assignments and assessed discussion board activities at the start of each new unit. Missing an assessed piece of work because you failed to keep up will not be accepted as an excuse.

The University of Manchester Library has one of the biggest collections in the country and students should make the fullest use of this facility. So it is essential that you familiarise yourself with how to access, journal articles, databases and e-books. For information on library resources, please visit The University of Manchester Library webpage. More details of how to improve off site access is given in Online Skills and Resources (see below for further information). If you experience any difficulty please contact the e-learning team.

UK and Ireland students may also use the SCONUL scheme in order to gain access to a local University Library. Please view this link for more information and how to apply for SCONUL access:

http://www.sconul.ac.uk/sconul-access

Students are also able to select units which require compulsory face-to-face attendance in Manchester for the assessment, i.e. UK Leadership / Emergency Humanitarian Assistance. These units are not mandatory, and students are required to arrange their own transport and accommodation. If you cannot attend the face-to-face element of these units, you should not select them for study.
 

3.4 Referencing

All work provided for assessment at masters level must be evidence based – based on the literature and research that a student has read to prepare their work. This evidence must be correctly referenced. In particular when students have a) used direct quotes or b) synthesised or paraphrased a section of text. The MPH and MRes programmes allow students to use either the Vancouver or Harvard referencing systems. Failure to reference correctly can lead you to be suspected of plagiarism. Guidance can be found on referencing in the Online Skills and Resources.

Online Skills and Resources – Faculty Understanding Academic Malpractice unit

Mendeley

Students attending either the face to face residential or the online induction session will be introduced to an application called Mendeley:

http://www.mendeley.com/en/1/2/

Mendeley is a free reference manager, which will help you keep all your references in one place. You can also use it to cite while you write and at the end of your assignment it will provide you will a full bibliography that can be displayed in the style of your choice (either Vancouver or Harvard). The application is free and can be used on any platform.

 

Academic Malpractice

Academic malpractice is any activity – intentional or otherwise – that is likely to undermine the integrity essential to scholarship and research. It includes plagiarism, collusion, fabrication or falsification of results, and anything else that could result in unearned or undeserved credit for those committing it. Academic malpractice can result from a deliberate act of cheating or may be committed unintentionally. Whether intended or not, all incidents of academic malpractice will be treated seriously by the University.

The procedures and penalties for dealing with academic malpractice are covered by the same regulation as apply to Conduct and Discipline of Students (Regulation XVII): http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=6530.
You are responsible for ensuring that you understand what academic malpractice is, and how to avoid committing it. If you are unsure, ask your lecturer or academic adviser.

As further support for students, the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health has developed a module entitled “Understanding Academic Malpractice”. This unit should be completed by all postgraduate taught students and will allow you to test your understanding of what constitutes plagiarism and academic malpractice.  You can access the resource via Blackboard.  Log in to My Manchester and click on the Blackboard tab.  The online skills training resource will be listed under the My Communities heading (below your course units). The module should be completed as soon as possible after you begin your programme, but must be completed before you submit your first piece of academic writing for assessment.

Guidance for students on plagiarism and other forms of academic malpractice can be found at:

http://www.regulations.manchester.ac.uk/guidance-to-students-on-plagiarism-and-other-forms-of-academic-malpractice/

Other Information on Academic Malpractice and how to avoid it can be found at: www.regulations.manchester.ac.uk/academic
 

3.5 Faculty PGT Online Skills Training Resource and Academic Malpractice

The Faculty has developed a skills training resource to support you through your postgraduate taught programme. This online material should supplement the assessed learning material and activities undertaken in your taught programme.

 

Accessing the online skills resource

You can access Blackboard through the My Manchester portal (http://my.manchester.ac.uk). The skills training resource is available in an academic community space available to all registered PGT students in the Faculty through Blackboard.

If you cannot see these units in your Blackboard please contact your Programme Administrator.

 

Content

Full details of all these resources can be found in the introduction to each unit. These resources have been designed to give you formative feedback on your progress through them. If you experience any problems and would like to talk to someone please contact your Programme Director. If you have questions about referencing and how it applies to your own work, please contact your Programme Director or dissertation supervisor/module lead.

Academic Writing	This is an excellent resource that supports you to write your assignments and dissertation. It is split into units that focus on key areas that previous students have found difficult and aims to enhance your academic writing style.
Understanding Academic Malpractice	Good academic writing is underpinned by evidence, and this must be correctly referenced. This resource explains good referencing practice and also enables you to test your understanding of the University’s plagiarism policy.   The Academic malpractice driving test should be completed as soon as possible after you begin your programme, but must be completed before you submit your first piece of academic writing for assessment.
Research Methods*	This course is spilt into 3 units that cover introductions to study design, statistics and dissertation skills. It has a number of online quizzes where you can test your knowledge.
Statistics*	The course provides a valuable foundation for understanding and interpreting biostatistics. It aims to provide you with the fundamentals of quantitative analysis.
Presentation Skills	This short interactive unit is designed to help you to enhance your presentation skills. Regardless of whether you are presenting in public, preparing for conferences, an oral examination or more informal settings this unit will give you the tops tips to improve your delivery.
Qualitative Research Methods*	This unit has been designed to give you an introduction to Qualitative Research.
SPSS*	This is an introduction to statistics, using SPSS, a popular and comprehensive data analysis software package containing a multitude of features designed to facilitate the execution of a wide range of statistical analyses.
Intellectual Property Awareness Resource	This Intellectual Property (IP) awareness resource has been created in order to improve your understanding of IP. Topics include: Types of intellectual property • Copyright and IP clearance • University policy on IP • IP commercialisation • IP in research or consultancy • IP issues to be aware when dealing with academic materials

 * NOTE: the material in this online resource is for reference and formative learning purposes only. In some of your taught programme you may be required to undertake assessed course units for Research Methods, Qualitative Research or Statistics. If your programme involves taught units then you should refer to the Blackboard material relating to that course unit. Please contact your Programme Administrator if you are unsure which material relates to your assessed work. You will still be able to refer to the online skills resource in later years.
 

3.6 Mandatory University Health and Safety Unit MEDN 67800

As part of the University’s responsibility to help keep you safe and well during your studies, you will need to complete a short online health and safety course.

This short course provides you with basic information about how health and safety is managed on campus and also includes some simple tests to assess your learning outcomes. It will take you approximately one hour to complete.

You will be enrolled automatically on the Health and Safety course unit, which is delivered through Blackboard (the University e-learning system). You must complete the course and obtain a ‘pass’ by 31 October 2016.

 

3.7 Personal Development Plans

A personal development plan (PDP) is a collection of documents that records your progress throughout the course. It encourages you to focus on your skills as a learner and to take responsibility for your own skill development. The PDP is your own property. It is primarily about assessing your skills, setting personal goals for improvement, recording your achievements, and reflecting on your experiences on this course.

The PDP for our courses is found within the Public Health and Primary Care – Community space in Blackboard. For some students, this may be the first time that you have come across a PDP. Others will have used them for some years within their work environment, for example the NHS in the UK. In this case we encourage you to use whichever system is of most benefit to you.

If kept up to date, your PDP will provide a valuable profile of your progress and achievement throughout your course, as well as helping you document your skill development. This will be a great asset when you come to revising your CV. For more general information please see:

http://www.tlso.manchester.ac.uk/personaldevelopmentplanning/

3.8 Accreditation of (Experiential) Prior Learning (AP(E)L)

A student may be permitted to receive an award of credits on the basis of demonstrated learning that has occurred elsewhere at some point in the past or during the life of the programme. The award of credits can be based upon learning for which certification has been awarded by an educational institution or another education/training provider, or un-certificated learning gained from experience. For full criteria please contact the programme administrator.

All requests from the student for consideration of AP(E)L can be made to the programme director. You will be asked to complete a form (which you can request from your programme administrator), which will require you to indicate which MPH course units are equivalent to your prior learning. You will also be required to provide evidence of the prior learning. This will then be assessed by the programme team and approved at School level to ensure equivalency of learning outcomes has been met.

Please follow the link below for the university’s policy on AP(E)L:

http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=2856

Students who have completed units on the PHPD stand-alone unit scheme, can re-apply to the PG Cert, PG Diploma or MPH/MRes. Any PHPD units achieved would be automatically accredited towards their new programme, providing they were completed within 5 years of registration on one of the award-bearing programmes.

 

3.9 Public Health Trainees and Professionals

Course content

The programme meets most of the Public Health Competencies identified by the Faculty of Public Health. It has also been carefully structured to ensure that learning is integrated with work. This is done mainly by assignments, discussions and the dissertation being linked to current professional activities.

 

3.10 Fitness to Practise

Postgraduate students at The University of Manchester who are qualified health or social care professionals (e.g. doctor, dentist, nurse, social worker) registered by a healthcare or social care regulatory body (e.g. General Medical Council, General Dental Council, Nursing & Midwifery Council, Social Care Council) are expected to behave at all times in a way that is consistent with the recommendations or code of practice of the relevant professional regulatory body*.

Postgraduate students need to be aware that in the event of misconduct, dishonesty, unprofessional behaviour, or other behaviour or illness (e.g. mental health illness) that raises the possibility that the student’s fitness to practise may be impaired the university has a duty to protect the public and to inform the relevant professional regulatory body. This means, for example, that where a student has been found to be dishonest (e.g. plagiarism, collusion, falsification of research data or other forms of cheating) the matter may be reported by the university to the relevant professional regulatory body.

Students who are dishonest risk not only failing to be awarded the intended degree, but also place at risk their whole professional career.

Information on Fitness to Practise related matters can be found at www.tlso.manchester.ac.uk/appeals-complaints/fitnesstopractise

* This also applies to intercalating medical students

 

3.11 Conduct and Discipline of Students

General University information on the Conduct and Discipline of Students can be found at: www.tlso.manchester.ac.uk/appeals-complaints/conductanddisciplineofstudents/.

Faculty policies for students on Communication and Dress Code, Social Networking and Drugs & Alcohol can be found at:

http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=29038 (Communication and Dress Code)

http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=29039 (Drugs & Alcohol)

http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=29040 (Social Networking)

 

3.12 Pre-requisite IT Skills

We ask you to ensure (by attending formal training courses if necessary) that you are familiar with the basics of:

• Using a personal computer.
• Using a word processor e.g. Microsoft Word or LibreOffice (formally OpenOffice).
• Using the Internet as an aid to study, including bookmarking, saving and storing web-based material, and communicating via e-mail.
• Using a web-based search engine to search a clinical database (e.g. PubMed).

See Technical Support below for further details.

 

Computer hardware

You should have regular access to the same Microsoft Windows PC or Apple Mac (see information below regarding using an Apple computer), on which you are able to adjust the settings if required. Blackboard may require you to make minor adjustments to your settings or browser.

You do not need a high specification (expensive) computer to do this course. However, you will need access to a good reliable Internet connection as this will significantly improve the download times for web pages, audio and video.

It is also recommended that you have a headset and microphone to use with your computer.

 

Software

The software needed to complete this course:

• Modern Web browser
• Word processing software
• Spreadsheet software
• Adobe Acrobat Reader
• Statistical software (see below)
• Adobe Shockwave and Flash plugins for the browser
• Java installed and enabled

 

Apple Mac Computers

As mentioned above you will be able to access all the course materials using an Apple computer. However, if you are planning to do the Biostatistics course (which is a core unit) or the Communicable Disease Control unit you will need to use statistical software. The statistical software package which is recommended and mentioned below will only run on a MS Windows computer, but it has been chosen for its ease of use. It will run on an Apple computer if you have MS Windows installed. This would require additional software to be loaded onto your Apple computer.

If you have enrolled on Biostatistics you will be contacted by our Admin team before the start of Semester 2 about how to get your copy of the required stats package. At this time, if you intend to use an Apple computer, please let us know and we will make the necessary arrangements to ensure it works on your Apple computer.

 

Statistical packages for PC

The Statistics course unit (MEDN60982) requires a statistical package. You will be informed of what package is recommended and given instructions on how to purchase/obtain a copy once the course starts.

Students paying the higher international fee will be automatically registered for their statistical software package in semester two. There may be a small charge for the package for other students at a reduced rate for a three-year license.  Statistical packages for Apple Macs

As mentioned above, if you have a Mac get in touch with us as soon as possible as to how to get the stats package to run on your Mac computer.

As mentioned above, if you wish to discuss anything to do with computer requirements then please do not hesitate to contact us on the e-mail address listed above (Section 3.8)

 

Course download options

What is a course download?

The MPH course units are available in various downloadable formats and for a variety of mobile devices. The downloadable versions of the courses are provided for offline use when no Internet connection is available. They are in no way a substitute for the full online versions of the courses delivered through Blackboard. Some of the interactive elements of the course units are not available on the mobile course versions.

Downloads are available in the following formats:

• PC/Apple
• PDF
• Kindle ebook
• iPad/iPhone
• Tablet/Android

The aim of these downloads is for you to be able to have the reading materials available if you are unable to go online e.g. going on holiday, travelling etc.

Once you have started the course you will have access to these downloads in each course unit’s Blackboard space, with instructions on how to use them.

 

3.13 Technical Support

If you are having problems accessing My.Manchester, email, your course materials, or you would like to discuss computer related issues, please follow this link for 24 hour services:

Details of IT Services Support Centre and FBMH eLearning Support

If you are having difficulty with the electronic resources you should contact the library via My Manchester

On the university campus, there are large open access PC clusters which are also open at weekends. If you wish to use any of the on-campus machines, you will need to log in using the same username and password that you use to log into My Manchester. If you have any queries about this, please contact us at the above email address. Details can be found here for all the clusters available around the university campus.

The University also has an extensive WiFi network which can be accessed from most University buildings, cafes and shops on Oxford Road using your University ID and password.

Further information about the computing and IT services offered by The University of Manchester can be found here:

http://www.itservices.manchester.ac.uk/help/

Login to the Support Centre online to log a request, book an appointment for an IT visit, or search the Knowledge Base.

• Telephone: +44 (0)161 306 5544 (or extension 65544).  Telephone support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• In person:  Walk-up help and support is available at the Joule Library, Main Library or Alan Gilbert Learning Commons:

Use Support Centre online for support with eLearning, from where you may make a request, report a fault, or search the Knowledge Base.  The email address is: elearning@manchester.ac.uk