FAQs

How do I pass

EYH has three possible outcomes FAIL, PASS and DISTINCTION. 

PASS = report + presentations marks > 39.5%, DISTINCTION = report + presentations marks > 69.5%

However, the Distinction boundary may be moderated up or down to ensure Distinction is only award to the top 20-25% of students.

BUT regardless of the group marks each person could FAIL if

you have attendance < 70%

OR

you have attendance > 70% BUT the peer assessment indicates you did not contribute to the group

What happens if I have an exam 

We are aware that some students will have to attend the MGT388 exam on Tuesday (am) 9:00 - 10:45 for this reason the Tuesday boardroom is now in the afternoon. Time for revision is not granted this is because during any exam period you could have exams on consecutive days and assuming you would get the day before to revise is unreasonable. Students taking this exam are expected to attend the full Monday activities, and Tuesday after 12:00.

There should be no other exams during EYH week - but if there is one which has been missed by us - please let us know (email: eng-projectweeks@sheffield.ac.uk). If you do have an exam then please liaise with your group and inform your facilitator of your exam. As stated above, you are not given permission to miss any sessions other than the half day allocated to that assessment.

What if I fail? What are the resit arrangements

EYH is a compulsory module, you must pass this in order to graduate (see programme regs here). Level 2 students are entitled to ONE resit attempt, which will be in the following semester 2, week 5-8. 

Students with Extenuating Circumstances will be considered on a case by case basis.

Do I have to be on campus? (yes Mon, Wed & Fri)

You must attend all week, Mon, Wed & Friday you must be on campus to work with staff, students and alumni.

On Tues & Thur you are still expected to work on the group project but remotely - all meetings will be conducted via Blackboard Collaborate.

Train Strikes (Wed & Fri)

In case of train strikes all students are expected to organise alternative transport in order to attend EYH. The train strikes will not be accepted as an extenuating circumstance for not attending.

Remember you need attendance > 70% to pass (and a favourable peer review)

Where do I go for resources? (Blackboard->EYH_Hub_NN - 2024)

All your resources are on Blackboard, you access to the Blackboard site will not be available until the 22nd of January at the earliest.

What do I do if I am ill or I have a personal problem which prevents me attending 

You must do 3 things:

Please note that your Extenuating Circumstances Form must be with your department by Monday February 5th. 

Please note that as the EYH is part of the formal assessment for your degree, the same rules apply as for exams. The explanatory notes detailing what constitutes Extenuating Circumstances are here.



What happens if I am late? 

Please try and attend all sessions on time - be mindful of your group - but we understand sometimes it is unavoidable. Your engagement will be commented on by the BuddyCheck peer review system and could lead to you failing the module.

What are the implications of missing part or all of the EYH through Extenuating Circumstances 

EYH is a formal assessment and as such you need to demonstrate that you have achieved the learning that is required. Missing part of the week is covered in the FAQ above. However, if you miss all of the week due to Extenuating Circumstances this means that your absence will be recorded on your student record as “Not Assessed” or NA (as opposed to a Fail if you did not have Extenuating Circumstances).  You will still need to do the work to demonstrate your competence in this subject area.  You will therefore be asked to do a resit activity. 

Who will be in my group?

All students are given the opportunity to rank the projects in order of preference. The groups of 6 (occasionally 7) are compiled using this information, but we also want to mix you up, so we will ensure that there are students from several departments in every group. There are nearly 1300+ second year students in the Faculty of Engineering and all are doing EYH. It is therefore unlikely (although not impossible) that you will know your other group members. You will do by the end of the week 

I have a Learning Support Plan - how will this be catered for

Your LSP will have been considered by the projects team and adjustments made where possible. If you are concerned at all please email eng-projectweeks@sheffield.ac.uk for specific confidential information.

What is a hub?

Six groups are gathered together in a hub.  Each hub is working on the same project brief. 

Each hub has its own room allocated for the week and its own dedicated hub Facilitator. Your Facilitator is a PhD student.

What will I learn?

You will learn about and develop a range of skills that you might not have met in your modules so far. You’ll learn about developing ideas and how to make rapid assessments of feasibility, project management and planning, the importance of Intellectual Property and confidentiality of your ideas; during the process you will become a better team worker, gain a greater understanding of feedback and find out how to be a better communicator. It is all these sorts of skills that will improve your success and understanding in future modules 

How does it relate to my degree?

You are in the second year of your degree and will have one or two more years of study ahead of you. During that time, the knowledge and skills that you will learn and develop during EYH will help underpin your ongoing studies on many occasions.

Will you be undertaking projects (whether individually or in groups)? Learning about project management will come in handy then!

Will you be working in groups? Learning how to work together in a team and overcome difficulties will be useful!

Will you have to use your knowledge and judgment to solve a real-world problem? Real problems are complex and often involve balancing conflicting requirements. To develop effective engineering solutions involves an iterative process of problem analysis, solution identification, development and critical evaluation and decisions based on engineering knowledge and judgement. This project will provide a framework for tackling complex problems.

Will you ever do work that involves working with the constraints of a particular geographical location or requirements of a user group not exactly the same as yourself? Understanding more about the world, global issues and how sustainability and inter-linked systems underpin successful engineering solutions might be useful.

Will you ever work for a “client”? Being able to view things from a different perspective is fundamental to all engineers/computer scientists.

Will you ever have to explain/ answer questions about your own work? If we aren’t able to explain to others the value and importance of the work we do, then people will stop believing in us/ funding us/ employing us!

My degree is accredited, does it impact on that? 

Yes, you must pass EYH to get an accredited degree. Failing this module could result in you leaving with an unaccredited degree.

The skills and knowledge learnt in both EYH and GEC are now part of the accreditation for your degree. These include:

•        Engage in the creative and innovative development of engineering technology.

•        Plan, budget, organise, direct and control tasks, people and resources.

•        Demonstrate personal and social skills.

•        Lead teams and develop staff to meet changing technical and managerial needs.

•        Present and discuss proposals. Communicate in English with others at all levels.

Will it help me get a job? 

When you go for a job, employers know what they are looking for in candidates. Jaguar Land Rover, for example, expects their employees to have sufficient skills to meet their Higher Performance Behaviours:

•        A sense of “my business”

•        Effective relationships

•        Strong teams

•        Efficient delivery

•        Agility and flexibility

•        Positive impact

•        Clear direction

•        High performance.

It will be the culmination of all these abilities that make you an employable graduate. Engineering You’re Hired gives you the opportunity to help develop these sought after skills. When you come to apply for a placement, internships and jobs (engineering based or not), you’ll be able to give employers examples of when and how you developed these core job qualities. This is an opportunity for you to get one step ahead of the person who will be sitting next to you at your next job interview! 

Who will be helping me?

The person you will most often see is your Hub Facilitator who is a PhD student. The Facilitators will be both leading on the teaching and helping you progress your project. All the Facilitators are doing PhDs, either within the Faculty of Engineering or in allied subject areas. They are a friendly bunch; maybe you are interested in finding out a bit about their PhD and why they chose to carry on studying?

Staff - each Hub has a dedicated staff member who will be there at a number of times in the week.

An Industrial Mentor - on the Wednesday, there will be “Industrial Mentors” present. These are people from engineering companies who will be involved in activities throughout the day. This will include them visiting the hubs and talking to groups about their projects; they will also be in the “Boardrooms”.

What happens in the Boardroom? 

Have you ever watched the TV show “The Apprentice”? In The Apprentice, a team of people who have been tasked with an activity under a nominated team leader, report back to the “Board” at the end of the day, detailing their achievements and any problems. Similarly, during EYH, your team will go to the Boardroom at the end of each day. The Board will comprise your Hub Facilitator, your Hub Staff member and (when available) an Industrial Mentor. The team, led by the team leader, will then report on their progress, achievements and problems so far. The Board will ask questions and give feedback, in order to help the team progress.

What happens if I have a job interview or assessment centre appointment 

If you have a job interview or assessment centre then please liaise with your group and make up the time when you can. Inform your facilitator of this action. This will affect you attendance mark.

I am playing sport on Wednesday afternoon, what do I do? 

You will be expected to put in the same hours to help your team with the project - but you can do this flexibly.  An EC form is only needed if you are expected to miss more than 1 day.

What happens if I have religious commitments 

If you have religious commitments during the week, then please arrange to catch up with any work missed with your team, however this does not excuse you from formal assessments such as the final presentation on Friday. For further guidance please contact the University chaplaincy and speak with the Hub facilitator if they accommodate in agreement with your team.