Assistant Practitioner FdSc

Teaching

Students will be taught the knowledge content of the programme through a combination of interactive workshops, lectures and seminars. Interactive workshops take a variety of formats and are intended to enable the application of learning through discussion and small group activities. Seminars enable the discussion and development of understanding of topics covered in lectures and are focused on developing subject specific skills and applied individual and group work.

Seminars, case studies, scenarios and problem-based learning will facilitate development of inquiry into real world situations, developing your skills, knowledge and practice. Online resources will provide you with the opportunity to deepen your understanding of the material presented in class and practical workshops. In addition, meetings with personal academic tutors are available and encouraged, in order to support you throughout the course.

Contact time

In a typical week, students will receive between 7 and 10 hours of contact time across 1.5 days. The precise hours will vary each semester and by academic level of study.

On a typical campus-based day, contact time will be one full day structured around:

• Face-to-face campus-based lectures
• Interactive workshops
• Group work, role modelling and professional discussions
• Practical skills and simulation
• Seminars or tutorials

On a typical virtual day, the contact time will be on a second day. The timing and delivery will vary dependent on the module details of which will be available on the course planner. These sessions will be structured around:

• Lecturer-led seminars (synchronous or asynchronous via VLE)
• Asynchronous online activities such as discussion forums
• Flipped classroom activities
• Virtual tutorials
• Assessment workshops

Teaching will be across two semesters for students and across three terms for apprentices.

Note: The first six weeks of the programme, in year one, 3-hour campus-based seminars are delivered on a second day. This is to facilitate activities that focus on the transition to higher education and the necessary skills for successful completion of the programme. Activities will include theoretical and practical understanding of the study and the practice of health and care. In semester two, students will have 3-hour campus-based practical skills workshops delivered on a second day. 

Independent self-study

In addition to the contact time, you are expected to undertake a minimum of 15 to 18 hours of personal self-study per week. Typically, independent self-study will involve reading journal articles and books, watching selected videos, working through example problems, working on individual and group projects, undertaking research in the library and online, preparing assignments and presentations.

Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent learning facilities, including the Hive and library resources, the virtual learning environment, and extensive electronic learning resources. Students in work-based learning are expected to reflect on theory to practice and maintain a Professional Assessment Portfolio (PAP). This will create a valuable resource for discussions about learning, aid the completion of assignments and demonstrate competence and capability to facilitate employment and career progression opportunities.

For apprentices, independent study time highlighted on your course planner is required to support assessment development; all other independent study time may be in addition to your off-the-job learning hours and occur in your own time. 

Duration

Full-time programme over 2 years.

Timetables

Timetables are normally available one month before registration. Please note that whilst we try to be as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week; and some classes can be scheduled in the evenings.

Teaching staff

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. The team includes academics, researchers, clinicians and experts from a variety of health and care backgrounds. Details of individuals can be found on the School webpages.  

Where appropriate, guest speakers and health care professional colleagues contribute to the delivery of teaching sessions. Members of the University of Worcester service user and care202407309group, IMPACT, who undertake expert-by-experience roles, regularly contribute to teaching and learning, alongside academic or practice colleagues. Teaching is informed by research and practice. Eighty percent of programme lecturers have a higher education teaching qualification or are Fellows of the Higher Education Academy

Assessment

Assessments provide opportunities for you to learn about yourself as a learner, reflecting on your learning experiences and providing an opportunity to demonstrate your academic, practical, technical, and professional progress and achievement in theory and practice. Student achievement is assessed using a diverse range of authentic assessment tasks, appropriate to the programme aims. 

Each module is summatively (formally) assessed separately, however a consistent and progressive approach to assessment design and an overall programme approach will ensure that you are adequately prepared for your role as Assistant Practitioners.

Assessment methods include:

Level 4

• Individual presentation
• Written report
• Unseen exam
• Group presentation plus written commentary
• Intervention with supporting paper
• Report on a case-based discussion
• Professional assessment portfolio

Level 5

• Research proposal
• Case study/Presentation
• Report
• Individual observation with questions and answers or OSCE
• Individual Project
• Professional assessment portfolio

has one or more formal or ‘summative’ assessments which are graded and count towards the overall module grade. Assessment methods include written essays and reports, group and individual presentations, open book examinations, assessed skills simulations, placement portfolio, assessment of direct practice and a dissertation or work-based project.

Programme specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest programme specification document.