Welcome to your Software Engineering course

Welcome to University of Staffordshire

We know you're already passionate about your subject, which is why we're excited you've chosen University of Staffordshire as the place to turn possibility into reality.

To give you an insight into what life as a Software Engineering student is like, your course leaders have prepared introductions to the course and further activities.

Welcome to your Masters course in Software Engineering at Staffordshire University if you are joining us on the start of your postgraduate course and welcome back if you are continuing your studies, in the Department of Computing within the School of Digital, Technology, Innovation and Business. The course will be delivered by our enthusiastic and highly qualified academics with commercial and/or research background. Remember that we are here to help you learn subject relevant knowledge and gain skills that will assist you with discovering your potential and give you a successful and rewarding future career. So should there ever be any problems please do come and speak to us.

Course Delivery

If you are a full-time on-campus student, the lectures and tutorials sessions will be delivered live on campus in class sizes to support your learning. To ensure you get the best experience the labs have smaller numbers of computers in them so that you will get chance to chat to your tutor in the session. We have a mix of different session types and adjust these based on the best experience from you. There will be formal lectures, where the electronic material will be provided on our learning system so you can pre-read or follow the session with downloaded content. The most important part is our labs where you can reinforce your understanding through practical work and discussion.

For distance learning students the material for lectures will be pre-recorded and will be hosted on our VLE (Blackboard) along with tutorial material.

Semester 1 Activity

Once the semester has started for each of the modules you will be provided with the details on Blackboard and/or during your first class on how this will be delivered and assessed giving you the opportunity to plan your semester and learning accordingly. Should there be any questions after the first week of teaching the module leader will be happy to provide you with any additional information you may require. We do understand that the first few weeks can be quite a change from previous studies and as before any issues at all chat to one of the tutors or award leader who can assist you.

Pre Learning

We advise to start looking at research methods, Saunders Research onion is a good start point. There is a lot of information about this online and here is one link for you

https://gradcoach.com/saunders-research-onion/

You will also discuss this in one of the modules which you are studying with us.

If you have been out of education for a while it may be worth looking at academic writing and cite-me-rite referencing.

Our library services offer some excellent guides to help you with your studies and workshops sessions can be booked for individual support. Please take a look at these

additional resources that may be of use during your studies:

https://libguides.staffs.ac.uk/study-skills

Please have a look at the following items as well@

Staffordshire University, Stoke Campus map - https://www.staffs.ac.uk/about/how-to-find-us/pdf/stoke-campus-map.pdf

Staffordshire University, Stoke Campus - https://www.staffs.ac.uk/student-life/campus-and-facilities/stoke-on-trent

Plagiarism and Turnitin - https://www.staffs.ac.uk/welcome/stoke-campus-students

Staffordshire University, Stoke Campus students - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bjnVRVIdJA

Equipment and Software

The software and hardware requirements will change based on the individual modules which are you studying. The university does provide software at no cost to all students, and you can find the link for this below

https://staffsuniversity.sharepoint.com/sites/software/SitePages/Home.aspx

All of our labs are equipped with powerful computers and there are also additional computers provided in various areas which again students can make use of.

In terms of any personal hardware, we would recommend just a laptop with at least an I5 processor (or equivalent.) In terms of modern software development for most generic work you do not need a lot of compute power and most modern processors will be fine. The one area that is worth considering is the amount of RAM and we would recommend at least 16 Gbytes. The reason for this is to ensure you can use virtual computing, where you can create a virtual environment to work on a particular assignment. This has proved to be very useful, and a lot of the industry will use this technique as well.

There is no issue using Apple based laptops, but please be aware that not all software has a version which will work on an Apple Mac. This is particularly true for freeware utilities which might be used in your modules

Groups and Societies

While you are studying with us, we hope that you will take the opportunity to engage with at least one of our numerous clubs or societies available to you as a student. Joining a club and/or society gives you the chance to meet and exchange yourself with other like- minded peers which can be very rewarding and enrich your student life and experience. For more information on the types of clubs and societies available here at Staffordshire University please use the following link:

https://www.staffsunion.com/getinvolved/clubsandsocieties/

Additional Information

Some of the module you will be taking on this course may offer the opportunity to gain specialist knowledge in a field where it is possible to obtain industry recognised certifications. This may involved further study and a small investment, however, they are a great way to make your CV stand out when applying for either placements or positions in the industry for when you have completed your course. Knowing the value of these certifications with respect to industry jobs, we highly encourage students to make full use of this

What to expect on Welcome Week

We're so excited for you to join us on campus and to welcome you to where you matter. During your welcome week you'll be able to meet our friendly student services teams, connect with new friends, join societies, explore on-campus venues attend club nights and much more.