Previous students return to FoC

Betty Yang (far left) with MFP Management class

Yesterday we were visited by some previous MFP students who are currently studying on Masters programmes at UCLan.  They came in to talk to our current students about their experiences and to give some advice about how to make the most out of the MFP, how best to prepare for a UCLan Masters and to talk about the benefits of being a foundation student.

Current students had an opportunity to ask questions about their future at UCLan and to talk about their time with us on the foundation course to students who had been in the same position as them only a year ago.  They asked questions such as 'How many hours do you study per week at UCLan?' 'What was the most difficult thing about the MFP and what is the most difficult thing about doing a Master's?' and 'How did you improve your speaking and listening skills?' 

The students who returned spoke very positively of the friendships they made here and the benefit they received to their essay writing practice and use of the library.   They felt studying on the foundation course gave them an upper hand on students who had no experience of UCLan when they started their Masters degree and that the subjects they studied here gave them a good foundation to build on in further study.

Last week Anton Mishechkin, a former UFP student who is now in his first year of BA (Hons) Business and Management at UCLan, also came to speak to our current UFP Business students about his experiences and we are expecting some more visitors throughout the week. 

These sessions provide a great opportunity for current students to get some perspective and to realise why they are studying the Foundation course and the benefits it will bring next year.  This provides a good boost to students' morale and motivation just a few weeks before many of them take their final exams.

Department visits at UCLan

When students study an Undergraduate Foundation Programme or Master's Foundation Programme at FoundationCampus UCLan they have guaranteed progression to their choice of UCLan's Bachelor's or Master's degree upon successful completion of the course.

There are a wide range of degrees available as automatic progression routes and if any potential student wants to go onto a course which doesn't have prior agreement we are able to approach the University to arrange this in agreement with the course leader of the degree.

As we have such strong links with the University our students also have the benefit of meeting their course leader and visiting the department that they will join before they begin the course the following year.

This gives the student a great insight into what is involved in the course and what their environment will be when they go onto their University programme taking the nerves out of the next step.

Students have had visits to the Business School, Art Department, Law School and School of Forensic and Investigative Sciences (FIS).

Last week a group of future Fire Engineering students met with Shephard Ndlovu, a senior lecturer in the School of FIS, to talk about their degree.  They were given a presentation on the course content and the use of fire engineering in the real world. 

Following that they had a tour of one of the fire labs and were shown a great deal of equipment which they will use in practical lessons as part of the course.  Shephard demonstrated one of the pieces of machinery which they will use to study the behaviour of fire in order to learn how to manage and control fire in different settings.

It was a very interesting and informative trip and students felt it was great benefit to them, motivating them to work even harder in the last leg of their course with us. 

Good luck to all of our students who will be joining UCLan next year, we are sure that they will enjoy it.

Potato stamping in UFP Physics

Our UFP Physics class found themselves having a messy time on Friday when they were asked to create elements demonstrating the differences in protons, neutrons and electrons which make up different atoms.

They used hand paints and potato stamps to create pictures of elements and each colour represented the particles which it consisted of in varying amounts. 

Jonathan Partington, our UFP Physics teacher, told us that 'atoms are made up of protons and neutrons in the nucleus and a cloud of electrons surrounding the nucleus. Some atoms have isotopes, which have the same number of protons and electrons but different numbers of neutrons.

What we were doing was to make pictures of atoms with different isotopes. Each person had a different element and should have produced two different forms of it, with the same number of protons and electrons but different neutrons.'

Interactive learning is a great way to get students actively involved in their lesson material and most importantly make learning fun.  Well done class the pictures look great.

Jonathan, bottom middle, with his UFP Physics class

Writing class for Arabic students

We are very lucky at FoundationCampus UCLan that one of our English teachers is also studying towards a Masters degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and Linguistics at UCLan, and is currently undertaking her dissertation research for the benefit of our Arabic students.

Samantha Meehan is carrying out some research related to the writing errors made by Arabic learners and has volunteered to run an extra writing class for students who want and need extra help with their writing. 

The class focuses primarily on sentence structure errors as a research area to better understand why Arabic learners make particular mistakes.  This, in turn, aims to improve Sam's teaching practice and that of the other English teachers here at UCLan FoC when dealing with Arabic students.

Sam will be trialling and evaluating a series of learning material tailored for the needs of Arabic learners in her writing class and will test the students writing after a number of classes in comparison to a sample of writing they each completed at the beginning of the sessions.

A great big thank you to Sam for dedicating her own time to providing extra help for students and we are looking forward to seeing the outcome of your research project which we are sure will benefit both our current and future Arabic students at FoC UCLan.



End of another term

It's time to say goodbye to our students once again.  The centre is closing for Easter break and our students will enjoy a two week break from lessons and exams. 

Many are going to their home country for the break, some are away travelling in Europe together, and some will stay here in Preston and enjoy the peace and quiet.  For those students staying in Preston we have arranged a trip to London with an overnight stay so students can enjoy a two day cultural break in the capital.

Unfortunately for those students staying in the UK the weather is a little colder than we would usually expect for the 22nd March and we have had an unexpected downfall of snow overnight.  Take a look at this weather report by Christine Bennett, our UFP Business teacher, who was stuck by the bad weather this morning. 

For staff it is still a busy time preparing for the April intake and marking exam papers from this terms exam week.  Nevertheless, we hope all our students have a well deserved rest and enjoy their two weeks holiday.

See you in two weeks!

Coursework Deadline Day!

Today is a hectic day to say the least.  It is Coursework Deadline Day and the clock is ticking on the 6pm deadline.

Across all FoundationCampus centres students submit work to the website Turnitin, a plagiarism checker, which is widely used in Universities across England.  Once the deadline has passed students will no longer be able to submit their work.  This gives the student a real taste of University life and teaches the importance of punctuality, meeting deadlines and rewards students who have worked hard on their coursework.

Good luck all and remember, the clock is ticking......

Futures lecture for Business students

This week we were joined by Dr. Jenny Shi, a senior lecturer from UCLan, who spent time with our UFP Business students preparing them for their future lives at University and in the real business world.

She delivered a taste of university life by giving a lecture on their future course content.

As part of the lecture students also worked together in groups to complete an interactive business strategy game. 

They had to work out how to create a business plan for start up businesses from different countries around the world.  It was a challenging exercise but our future Business students got a glimpse of the practical aspects of working in a global business enterprise.

They greatly enjoyed having a taste of university lectures and engaging with a lecturer from UCLan and look forward to a smooth transition to the Lancashire Business School in September.

Many thanks to Dr Jenny Shi for such a worthwhile and interesting lecture.