Food and Nutrition with Foundation Year - BSc (Hons)

This module is designed to support you in your transition to studying in a Higher Education environment at Birmingham City University. Through a range of class-based group and individual activities, discussions, debates, personal reflection and wider reading and research, you will have opportunities to consider academic conventions, which include: effective use of literature; sourcing and reviewing information; various forms of academic writing; developing reflective capacity. You will also receive guidance on study skills and strategies, which will enhance previously acquired skills.

These professional skills are transferable and will be valuable not only in the immediate context but throughout your continued education and employment. By engaging with this module, we have set out clearly what we expect of you at foundation and undergraduate level, and will equip you with the confidence, competence and capacity to utilise resources to be able to meet expectations in this environment.

An essential element of this module will be your ability to analyse and reflect on your own learning and the way in which you have applied your knowledge, skill and understanding to any academic context in which you have engaged to date. Communicating effectively through a variety of academic conventions is a key skill for any student and this will be a feature of this module.

This module is designed to help you gain awareness and understanding of current challenges around Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity and how this impacts upon the Health, Education and Social Sciences sector, preparing you for your future education and journey into practice.

Introducing the Equality Act 2010 as the overarching legislation that focuses on Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity, the module is based on themes that are covered by this Act.  The nine protected characteristics, upon which a person can be discriminated, as laid down in the Equality Act, will be discussed throughout and you will be introduced to case studies relevant to your chosen pathways.

The module will give you the opportunity to discuss debate and reflect upon how challenges around Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity may present themselves. Using problem and inquiry based learning you will have the opportunity to explore and discuss ways of working which can help to minimise discrimination in your own practice.  The module will be made up of lead lectures, taught sessions, group work and individual study.

This module will focus on enabling you to gain a deeper understanding of the interpersonal skills and behaviours required to work in your chosen area. Through a range of class based and student focused activities you will explore the different concepts of effective interpersonal and professional behaviours essential to your own personal development and progression. By engaging in this module you will  reflect on your own and others  values, beliefs and behaviours identifying how this can impact on the way in which you will  be viewed by others. You will also address the importance of effective communication and how this can lead you to have a more professional approach in your chose area of work.

This module is designed to support you in your transition to studying in a Higher Education environment at Birmingham City University, allowing you the opportunity to negotiate learning of a bespoke subject. Under the guidance of tutors, you will be able to direct your learning and identify relevant learning opportunities that you feel enable you to learning more about a specific field of study.

The subject area within this module is student-led, with guidance and facilitation from designated academic and practice support. You will identify an area of study that you would like to review and evaluate, and which relates to your foundation year pathway and indicate programme.

A significant proportion of the module is based around negotiation with academic facilitators to identify extended areas of study and opportunities that are possible to enhance your towards completion of the study.

The module is not reliant on traditional taught subject sessions, although you will be expected to attend classes where you will work in peer learning groups exploring and developing your negotiated study. This approach to studying is closely allied to learning within the workplace.

An appreciation of the principles of Human Biology plays a central role in the understanding of the workings of the human body. This module is organised into three distinct phases from fundamental principles, to physiological processes, and then disruption of the interplay of such systems in human disorders. This understanding provides a solid foundation for the subsequent study in a range of disciplines from healthcare, allied healthcare, and other disciplines requiring an understanding of human biology. The topics covered will also be underpinned by practical activities. Pre- and post-session activities will help to develop your key transferable skills such as being able to reflect and ask probing questions as well as being able to think independently.  Development of these skills will ensure a growth in maturity and boost your confidence which will lead to unlocking your learning potential.

Students embarking on health related studies and careers need to have a knowledge and understanding of the factors that contribute to creating good health.  Evidence shows that the majority of these factors lie outside of the healthcare and clinical remit and so it is important that students are aware of the wider social, economic, environmental and political drivers of states of health of the population, group or client group they may encounter.   As health services are reoriented towards prevention of ill-health and health improvement, all health science students need to consider the ways in which they may work in future, to both understand the social determinants of health and the principles and practice of health promotion in order to improve health, prevent ill-health and reduce health inequalities.

This module will cover the fundamentals of biochemistry and its link to nutrition so as to provide a solid understanding of how human biochemistry underpins food and nutrition sciences, and how nutrients and non-nutrients impact on body functions and metabolic pathways.

This module will enable you to develop a range of practical and transferable skills required of food and nutrition scientists who assist the food industry in preparing, producing and creating new and innovative products.

This module will provide you with the foundation knowledge and understanding of human physiology and the different physiological systems in the body; their structure, function and relationship to nutrition, health and disease. The role of diet and nutrition in influencing and affecting physiological and biochemical functions of the body will be also explored.

This module will introduce you to food safety and microbiology and will help develop your basic laboratory and investigatory skills to identify the microorganisms associated with food science, disease and the wider environment.

This module will enable you to gain practical skills and competencies related to food science and nutrition. Within the module, you will develop the skills to be reflective in your practices and to effectively evaluate and apply scientific evidence, conducting and presenting yourself in an appropriately professional manner. You will be expected to apply the knowledge and transferable skills addressed in this module to a variety of settings and situations.

This module will help you develop knowledge and practical understanding of the basic chemistry of food and its constituents. You will explore food and food products as global commodities. Your theoretical understanding and problem solving ability will be facilitated by a range of practical sessions, enabling you to gain confidence and competence of well-known techniques and methodologies used world-wide in food analysis.

In line with the overall programme philosophy and aims, this module will provide you with a comprehensive insight into specific diet related diseases and conditions currently affecting populations across the globe. You will be encouraged to be open minded and sensitive to cultures and communities and engage collaboratively and independently when dealing with these concerns. The module will develop you to be health and customer focused, flexible and competent, adaptable, and to have a global perspective with regards nutrition and disease management, particularly when supporting individuals, populations, industry and the public sector.

This is an applied and hands-on practical module, facilitating the theoretical understanding of food science. This module will allow you to explore the core principles of food rheology, food material sciences and the world renowned analytical procedures and techniques used by industry to examine and classify food as a commodity and evaluate its properties.

The module will allow you to gain current knowledge and practical experience of microbes in food production and health promotion. You will develop analytical skills and competencies using modern analytical techniques in microbiology. You will be introduced to current aspects of food safety and preservation used within the food industry where the legal requirements are satisfied and consumers are guaranteed safety and quality. You will use problem solving skills and creativity in providing solutions and interventions to safety issues and challenges that face the industry in order to minimise risks and mitigate hazards.

This module will allow you to critically reflect on your practice and evaluate scientific literature resources effectively. You will improve your scholarly and research skills by considering aspects such as research methods, experimental design, ethics, academic writing and advanced literature research. You will be able to perform multifaceted data analysis, including statistical analysis techniques and software in preparation for the final year project.

This is a core module of the programme which will assist with developing your knowledge and understanding of the nutritional requirements for individuals and populations and the role of nutrition in health and disease. The module looks to build on your ability to be effective, confident, and creative in providing advice. It will also help you promote health and create professional and effective solutions to individuals across their life cycle.

The module is designed to give you an overview of food processing unit operations common to all systems used in national and international food processing and manufacturing settings. You will have hands-on experience working and applying the knowledge in practice based interactive sessions. The module emphasis is on developing practical skills expected of all food and nutrition scientists. You will access scientific literature resources to critically evaluate industrial processes and use your creativity in providing solutions and interventions to issues and challenges that face the industry.

In line with the overall programme philosophy and aims, doing a study abroad sandwich year will broaden your knowledge base, skills and competencies in the field of Food & Nutrition Sciences. Your academic studies can be enriched by the new perspectives, experiences and enhanced skills that you will gain through your critical reflection on your study experiences.

In line with the overall programme philosophy and aims, doing a sandwich year will broaden your knowledge base, skills and competencies in the field of Food & Nutrition Sciences. Your academic studies can be enriched by the new perspectives, experiences and enhanced skills that you will gain through your critical reflection on work and study experiences.

In line with the overall programme philosophy and aims, this module will cover a range of multidisciplinary perspectives to broaden your knowledge of current advances in food and nutrition sciences that the global population is facing. You will use the scientific literature to critically evaluate these advances.

This module will provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the latest global advances in food technology and biotechnology used by industry during food manufacture and processing. The global impact of these technologies on consumers, environments and ethical regulations will be explored.

This module will allow you to test practically and critically discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and usefulness of global techniques used to analyse the food quality of major food commodities. You will evaluate food products in terms of nutrition, safety, quality and acceptability using the latest quality control procedures and techniques, some of which you have used previously in other food science modules.

The module will provide you with an in-depth understanding of diet and nutrition as a means of health promotion of individuals and populations. You will be encouraged to be open minded, inclusive and sensitive to diversity and culture. The aim is to enable you to influence groups of populations to consider behaviour changes to their daily lives or methods of work which may result in a net benefit to their health.

In line with the overall programme philosophy, this module allows you to work collaboratively with other students, academic and technical staff to utilise resources effectively in developing and enhancing a research relationship whilst critically engaging with relevant research methodology and academic literature in a reflective, analytical and critically self-aware manner.

This module will require you to carry out a market research, explore and critically analyse current scientific literature in summarising your findings, designing, preparing and introducing your product. You will consider the latest advances in research, safety and quality, ethical issues, legislations, market statistics, product design and development.