Department of Chemistry
- Chemistry
- Undergraduate study
- Teaching methods
- Year 1 Timetable - A Typical Week
Year 1 Timetable - A Typical Week
Overview of teaching activities
Our students do a mixture of lectures, small group teaching (tutorials and workshops) and a significant component of practical work each week. In addition, there is a comprehensive programme, across all years, of transferable skills training. A typical pattern of work for a first year student involves:
- spending 8-10 hours attending lectures
- spending 9-10 hours on practical works (including associated discussions or workshops and time spent writing up scripts)
- 1 hour attending a tutorial with up to 8 hours spent in reading and preparing written work for it
- on average, 2-3 hours for workshops
This still leaves a significant amount of time to follow-up on each lecture and for private reading. Each term involves an average working week of around 40 hours.
Contact time
Based on the Unistats KIS data, of the expected 1,200 hours per year of time spent on learning, each of our Chemistry degree programmes has a very similar amount of contact time in the first two years.
Year 1: typically 39% contact time
Year 2: typically 36% contact time
BSc Chemistry
Year 3: typically 34% contact time
MChem (Year in York) Chemistry
Year 4: typically 55% contact time
Typical timetable
| Day | Time | Activities |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 9.00am - 4.30pm* | Laboratory practicals |
| Tuesday | 9.00am - 4.30pm* | Laboratory practicals |
| Wednesday | 9.05am - 9.55am | Lecture course, eg 'Organic Carbonyls' |
| Wednesday | 10.05m - 10.55am | Lecture course, eg 'Aromatic Chemistry' |
| Wednesday | Afternoon | Time available for sports or recreational activities |
| Thursday | 9.05am - 9.55am | Lecture course, eg 'Transition Metals' |
| Thursday | 10.05am - 10.55am | Lecture course, eg 'Electrochemistry and Solutions' |
| Thursday | 11.00am - 12.30pm | Skills course, eg Maths workshops |
| Thursday | 2.05pm - 4.00pm | Workshop, eg Organic consolidation |
| Friday | 9.05am - 9.55am | Lecture course, eg 'Biochemistry' |
| Friday | 11.00am - 12.00pm | College Tutorial |
| Friday | 2.05pm - 2.55pm | Learning Support for Physical, Organic and Inorganic |
| Friday | 3.05pm - 3.55pm | Lecture course, eg 'Main Group' |
| Friday | 4.05pm - 4.55pm | Lecture course, eg 'Transition Metals' |
* Students will typically spend one day per week in the laboratory.
Lockdown lectures
Watch Life of a Chemistry Student
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