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Programme summary

Awarding body/institution	ÌìÌÃÊÓƵ
Teaching institution (if different)
Owning school/department	ÌìÌÃÊÓƵ Design School - pre 2019
Details of accreditation by a professional/statutory body	Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (formerly the Ergonomics Society)
Final award	MSc (1 year full time or part time max. 3 years) PGDip PGCert (on entry)
Programme title	Programmes in: • Ergonomics (Human Factors) • Human Factors in Transport • Human Factors for Inclusive Design • Ergonomics for Health and Community Care • Human Factors & Ergonomics for Patient Safety
Programme code	DSPT11 to DSPT18 DSPT25 and DSPT26
Length of programme
UCAS code	N/A
Admissions criteria
Date at which the programme specification was published	Wed, 19 Jul 2017 14:36:00 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.

1.1       Specific aims of the programmes:

The five streams share common core Ergonomics content as required for accreditation. 

1.1.1    Ergonomics (Human Factors)

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

1.1.2    Human Factors in Transport

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

1.1.3    Human Factors for Inclusive Design

The programme is accredited by the Chartered 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.  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.

1.1.4    Ergonomics for Health and Community Care

The programme is accredited by the Chartered 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.   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.

1.1.5    Human Factors & Ergonomics for Patient Safety

The programme is accredited by the Chartered 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.   The programme is designed to provide a broad ergonomics education to focus on those aspects concerned with promoting patient safety in all healthcare sectors and domains.  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 Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors which undertakes monitoring, and performs a full review periodically for the relevant programme titles;
• for Ergonomics for Health and Community Care, the requirements of the professional body ‘National Back Exchange’;
• requirements of the International Ergonomics Association;
• University Learning and Teaching Strategy;
• School teaching and learning policies;
• the research interests and specialisms of the teaching staff and their professional involvement in the discipline;
• the provision of equal opportunities.

3. Programme Learning Outcomes

3.1 Knowledge and Understanding

• On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

MSc / PGDip

K1  Psychological ergonomics: cognitive psychology, occupational psychology, behaviour including organisational behaviour, perception, task analysis;

K2  Physical ergonomics: including anthropometry, physical work place assessment and related methods and biomechanics, anatomy and physiology;

K3  Design ergonomics:  theoretical and practical aspects of design for human use, including equipment and products, the work place and systems;

K4  Experimental design and data interpretation: experimental design and analysis, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, methods and issues concerned with understanding the needs of users;

K5  Systems ergonomics.

PGCert

K1  Psychological ergonomics: introduction to cognitive psychology

K2  Physical ergonomics: including anthropometry, physical work place assessment and related methods and biomechanics, anatomy and physiology;

K3  Design ergonomics:  introduction to practical aspects of design for human use, including equipment and products, the work place and systems;

K4  Experimental design and data interpretation: introduction to methods and issues concerned with understanding the needs of users;

K5  Systems ergonomics.

 

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:

MSc / PGDip

C1   demonstrate evidence-based reasoning and make critical judgements about ergonomic issues;

C2   find, assess, abstract and synthesise ergonomics evidence from a variety of sources, including detection of patterns and evaluation of significance in ergonomics data;

C3   analyse and present with confidence, quantitative and qualitative evidence;

C4   demonstrate competence in ergonomic skills through practical activities; for MSc only- demonstrate integration of ergonomics evidence in Project module

C5   understand the ethical context

PGCert

C1   demonstrate evidence-based reasoning and make critical judgements about ergonomic issues;

C2   find, assess, abstract and synthesise ergonomics evidence from a variety of sources, including detection of patterns and evaluation of significance in ergonomics data;

C3   analyse and present with confidence, quantitative and qualitative evidence;

C4   demonstrate competence in ergonomic skills through practical activities;

C5   understand the ethical context of ergonomics as a discipline and demonstrate this in relation to their own work

 

b. Subject-specific practical skills:

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

MSc / PGDip

P1   observe, record accurately and give an objective account of human action in both laboratory and real-world settings;

P2   design and execute an experiment which compares behaviour or experience under at least two conditions of at least one experimental variable;

P3   collect and organise quantitative and qualitative data, undertake appropriate analyses, and abstract and interpret relevant information; for MSc only- demonstrate integration of ergonomics evidence in Project module

P4   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;

P5   act professionally and in accordance with ethical propriety.

PGCert

P1   observe, record accurately and give an objective account of human action in both laboratory and real-world settings;

P2   design and execute an experiment which compares behaviour or experience under at least two conditions of at least one experimental variable;

P3   collect and organise quantitative and qualitative data, undertake appropriate analyses, and abstract and interpret relevant information;

P4   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;

P5   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:

MSc / PGDip

T1   Information Technology:  use instructional material (eg, experimental demonstrations) and research tools (eg,. Statistical packages) on computers, and search for relevant material on the internet;

T2   Numeracy:  collect data in numerical form, present it in tables and graphs, and analyse it with a range of statistical tools;

T3   Problem Solving:  clarify questions, consider alternative solutions and evaluate outcomes;

T4   Teamwork:  share responsibility for a task with others; agree common goals and methods to achieve them; co-ordinate the use of common resources;

T5   Management Skills:  manage a project, including its interfaces with its context; control meetings, write reports, demonstrate key skills, understand training and skills issues;

PGCert

T1   Information Technology:  use instructional material (eg, experimental demonstrations) and research tools (eg,. Statistical packages) on computers, and search for relevant material on the internet;

T2   Numeracy:  collect data in numerical form, present it in tables and graphs, and analyse it with a range of statistical tools;

T3   Problem Solving:  clarify questions, consider alternative solutions and evaluate outcomes;

T4   Teamwork:  share responsibility for a task with others; agree common goals and methods to achieve them; co-ordinate the use of common resources;

T5   Management Skills:  manage a project, including its interfaces with its context; control meetings, write reports, demonstrate key skills, understand training and skills issues;

 

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 for Health and Community Care:  MSc, PGDip, PGCert

Human Factor & Ergonomics for Patient Safety MSc, PGDip, PGCert

 

4.1       Taught modules

 

Module Code and Title	Modular Weight	Ergonomics (Human Factors)	Human Factors for Inclusive Design	Ergonomics for Health and Community Care	Human Factors in Transport	Human Factors & Ergonomics for Patient Safety
DSP119 - Healthcare Ergonomics and Patient Safety	15	Op	X	C	X	C (PGC)
DSP120 - Patient handling	15	X	X	C (PGC)	X	X
DSP101 - Introduction to Ergonomics	15	C (PGC)	C (PGC)	C (PGC)	C (PGC)	C (PGC)
DSP102 - Human Factors and Systems	15	C (PGC)	C	C	C	C (PGC)
DSP103 - Human Function	15	C (PGC)	C (PGC)	C (PGC)	C (PGC)	C (PGC)
DSP104 - Environmental Ergonomics	15	C	C	X	C	X
DSP105 – Physical Health at Work	15	C (PGC)	C (PGC)	C (PGC)	C (PGC)	C
DSP106 - Data collection and analysis	15	C	C	C	C	C
DSP114 - Disability Ageing and Inclusive design	15	Op	C (PGC)	C	X	C
DSP121 – Transport Safety	15	Op	X	X	C (PGC)	X
DSP118 - Human Computer Interaction	15	C	C	X	C	C

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

(PGC) Modules for Postgraduate Certificate are indicated for each programme

 

 4.2       Project*

 

Module Code	Module Title	Cr	Ergonomics (Human Factors)	Human Factors for Inclusive Design	Ergonomics for Health and Community Care	Human Factors in Transport	Human Factor & Ergonomics for Patient Safety
DSP100	Project	60	compulsory	compulsory	compulsory	compulsory	compulsory

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

5.2.1    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.

5.2.2    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.

5.2.3    For students on the Human Factors for Inclusive Design, Ergonomics for Health and Community Care, Human Factors in Transport and Human Factors & Ergonomics for Patient Safety 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