Assignment - MODULE TITLE: ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

Assessment Criteria - This assignment relates to your understanding of your education, training, experience and career.

MODULE LEARNING OUTCOMES -

Knowledge and Understanding - Students can understand their engineering discipline and identify the contribution made to their professional development by selected workplace activities.

Cognitive and Intellectual Skills - Conduct structured and reflective self-analysis of professional skills and knowledge.

Practical and Professional Skills - Prepare concise reports on their professional development with appropriate examples.

Key Transferable Skills - Demonstrate ability to critically appraise the scope and degree of their own professional development to date.

MODULE INTRODUCTION - This module provides you with the opportunity to reflect on your experience and development as an engineer. It provides information regarding engineering careers, qualifications, institutions and a framework for you to analyse your experience to date and the steps you can take to achieve your career goals.

TASKS -

The module will require you to address the following tasks and write up your findings in a report.

Do not limit yourself to the tasks below, if there are further aspects which are relevant to your career please add further sections.

The tasks are:

(a) Develop an understanding of the meaning of the terms, technician and engineer.

(b) Record your engineering experience and qualifications to date.

(c) Research the qualifications and experience required for your chosen career path.

(d) Assess which areas of your education and training are well covered and which require further inputs.

(e) Assess the appropriateness of membership of an engineering institution to your career aims.

(f) Research the qualification requirement and benefits of membership of the Engineering Institution appropriate to your engineering discipline.

(g) Develop a plan for achieving your career aims.

(h) Discuss an element of your education, training or experience which you feel has equipped you well for your career in engineering.

(i) Evaluate how well the education and training you have received equips you for your chosen career and outline any improvements which you think could be made to this process.

(j) Have you been able to transfer the knowledge and skills gained through the course into the workplace?

GUIDANCE FOR TASKS -

(a) Develop an understanding of the meaning of the terms, technician and engineer.

Research the job roles of:

• Engineering Technician and
• Engineer.

Information on this can be found through the Engineering Institutions, e.g.

• Engineering Council
• Institution of Mechanical Engineers
• Institution of Engineering and Technology
• Institution of Chemical Engineers.

(b) Record your engineering experience and qualifications to date. List your qualifications and experience to date.

(c) Research the qualifications and experience required for your chosen career path.

Conduct research using a variety of sources: Engineering Institutions, job advertisements, education establishments.

(d) Assess which areas of your education and training are well covered and which need further inputs.

It may be useful to determine how well your qualifications and experience match the requirements of your career aims using some form of check list (e.g. in the form of a grid as shown below).

(e) Assess the appropriateness of membership of an engineering institution to your career aims.

Is your target career represented by an engineering institution? What advantages can be gained by joining an engineering institution?

(f) Research the qualification requirement and benefits of membership of the Engineering Institution appropriate to your engineering discipline.

(g) Develop a plan for achieving your career aims.

State the qualifications and experience you need to achieve your career aims and set out how and when you hope to achieve these.

(h) Discuss an element of your education, training or experience which you feel has equipped you well for your career in engineering.

Describe this experience and state why the experience was useful, what were the positive elements of the experience?

(i) Evaluate how well the education and training you have received equips you for your chosen career.

Give examples where the education and training you have used has been applied directly and indirectly to the workplace. What have been the most useful aspects of the course, e.g. specific subjects such as thermodynamics or broader more general skills (e.g. report writing, problem solving, mathematics, IT skills). Outline any improvements which you think could be made to the HNC/D.

(j) Evaluate how well the workplace has allowed and encouraged you to apply the knowledge and skills you gained through the course into the workplace?

Outline any mechanisms and/or barriers which allow/prevent you from applying knowledge and skills learned. Give examples of any occasions where you have applied your education and training in the workplace. How could the workplace be improved to allow you to use your new skills and knowledge more effectively?

REPORT FORMAT - The structure of the report should be as follows:

1. Introduction - A brief description of your present role in your employment, your employment aims for the future and the qualifications you hope to achieve.

2. Education, Qualifications and Employment - This is the body of the report containing subsections for the tasks outlined above.

3. Conclusion/Summary - A summary of the main points you would like to emphasise from the tasks outlined above.