All new BTEC Level 3 Engineering qualifications from Nationals now include the required unit, Principles of Engineering (Unit 1), which is assessed by exam. This is a 120-hour unit, containing technical content from the mechanical and electrical engineering disciplines.

Due to the nature of this unit, it is likely to be challenging for schools and colleges to teach and it may also be difficult for students to develop the knowledge and understanding necessary to excel on the exam.

In this article we will explore some alternative approaches to the delivery of this unit, in order to allow students to reach their full potential.

It is important to note that performance in this unit will affect students’ overall grades, and poor performance may even prevent some students from achieving a positive grading result. For this reason, it is necessary to ensure that students have every opportunity to acquire the knowledge and understanding necessary to perform at their best on the exam.

Unit 1 Engineering Principles: Exam Opportunities

Students have up to two opportunities to take the test in this unit. The first is at the end of January and the second at the end of June. A decision will need to be made prior to curriculum development whether or not to enroll students in the January exam, as this will influence how the unit is delivered. Doing so will give students two opportunities to attempt the assessment, but may not give them enough time to cover all the content in the unit beforehand (approximately 120 hours of content).

Students are likely to benefit if they can take the January and June exams. A satisfactory result in January would relieve some of the pressure and an unsatisfactory result would not have such a detrimental impact on the student. They would also get additional information on their own strengths and weaknesses during this process, before the second exam in June.

One option then is to be selective about the content delivered in the first half of the academic year. After you have reviewed the sample evaluation materials available on the Pearson website (here), it is possible to identify some possible “easy benefits.” For example, there will almost certainly be a question about simply supported beams and also a question about the resistance network.

BTEC Engineering Principles – Unit Contents

The BTEC Level 3 Engineering Principles unit contains mechanical and electrical / electronic engineering content, as well as a substantial amount of mathematics. Most Engineering professors will have a major in Mechanical Engineering or Electrical Engineering, so it can be difficult to ensure that all content is delivered with the same rigor.

Ideally, three teachers would teach the unit, a mathematics specialist, a mechanic specialist, and an electrical specialist. However, this approach also has a disadvantage because opportunities to integrate mathematics into contextual questions can be missed. The main advantage of this approach to delivery is that it would prevent teachers’ own biases from being projected onto students. It is important to allow students to explore all aspects of engineering on their own, especially if they are looking for future employment in the industry.

Differentiation in the delivery of content from engineering principles

As teachers will understand, the ideal is to provide teaching resources that are tailored to the individual needs of each student. Some students may require additional support to understand the basics, while others will be able to work independently, at a very high level, provided they are given the opportunity to do so.

The same will be true for this unit, where some students may be working at a passing threshold level, while others are working at a high-level distinction level. It can be difficult for teachers to present lessons at a level that is adequately challenging for all students, but this is necessary to ensure that everyone receives the grades that they are capable of achieving.