School of Chemical and Physical Sciences brochures Forensic Science brochure 2019 | Page 19

FORENSIC SCIENCE | 19
Teaching and Support
What assessment tasks are set?
Most modules in forensic science are assessed by an examination and by coursework.
Over all of the Forensic Science programmes, the ratio of examinations to coursework
is around 50:50.
Coursework can take many forms and
the variety of assignments you undertake
enables you to gain a wide range of
essential communication and other skills.
Some modules include short class
tests to encourage revision and provide
feedback on your progress.
Deadlines are set for submission of work
and staff attempt to return marked work
normally within 2 weeks.
In the final year, the team project module
and dissertation are wholly coursework
assessed.
In the Drugs of Abuse module you will
prepare a witness statement for the court.
In Forensic Toxicology you will undertake
problem-based-learning sessions on
case-studies involving unexplained
death. Case studies are used frequently
to illustrate forensic science in the
real world.
You will become familiar with some of
the research literature in forensic science
through preparing the literature review
for your team project and by carrying
out appraisals of individual papers as
coursework in some modules.
Laboratory work is assessed in many
ways including laboratory diaries, reports,
pro-formas, poster presentation and oral
assessment.
Feedback is provided on all student work
and in most cases this is supplemented
by written or oral comments provided on
returning the work itself.
Some formative work is set, principally
to provide feedback where no mark
is recorded.
External examiners report 2017
“The use of a wide range of
assessments is clearly helping
to develop the students’
transferable skills.”
”The use of the new Crime
Scene House in student
Teaching and Learning is an
excellent example of good
practice.”
”There is a lot of evidence of
very high quality teaching
and learning on this degree
programme.”
keele.ac.uk/forensic