Pearson

Higher Nationals in
Engineering / Aeronautical Engineering /
Nuclear Engineering / Rail Engineering /
Manufacturing Operations
PEARSON-SET ASSIGNMENT GUIDANCE
UNIT: 4 Managing a Professional Engineering Project
(Pearson-set)
For use with the following qualifications:
Pearson BTEC Level 4 Higher National Certificate in Engineering
Pearson BTEC Level 4 Higher National Certificate in Aeronautical Engineering
Pearson BTEC Level 4 Higher National Certificate in Nuclear Engineering
Pearson BTEC Level 4 Higher National Certificate in Rail Engineering
Pearson BTEC Level 4 Higher National Certificate in Manufacturing Operations
First teaching from September 2017

Issue 3
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RQF HNC/HND Engineering Related Qualifications 2

Contents
Unit Planning 4
The role of the Tutor 5
Milestones and interim feedback 5
Authentication of a project 5
Guidance for Tutors 5
Templates for Evidence Collection 8
Project Logbook Template 8
Performance Review Template 10
Guidance for Students 11
Responding to the Project Brief 12
Assessment Criteria 13

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Unit Planning
The aim of this unit is to offer students an opportunity to demonstrate the skills required for managing
a professional engineering project which meets appropriate engineering aims and objectives. The roles
that engineers undertake require them to draw on an array of different abilities from technical
expertise through to design and manufacture. The application of their knowledge must be balanced
with reflection on the ethical and environmental implications of their actions.
The topics the students will consider include: roles and responsibilities of a professional engineer,
devising engineering solutions, project planning and implementation, evaluation techniques and
technical report writing.
The project brief will be set by the centre, based on a theme and topic provided by Pearson (this will
change annually). The chosen project will enable students to explore and examine a relevant and
current topical aspect of professional engineering in the context of the industrial and/or commercial
environment.
Centres should consider the best way to deliver the unit according to the needs of the students.
Possible delivery methods include whole-class teaching, small group teaching, or e-learning. Deliverers
could be tutors, appropriate members of the engineering institutes or representatives from local
relevant industrial sectors.
The unit should be taught in the way(s) most appropriate to the students and the centre. Some
suggestions include:
• a block of lessons at the start of the course

• lessons throughout the course

• small-group teaching, focusing on relevant aspects

• teaching of, or seminars on, project management and/or subject specific skills delivered by
external experts.

Delivery should include the development of:

• project management skills

• the professional duties and responsibilities expected of engineers

• research and investigative skills

• teaching of, or seminars on, project management theory and practice and/or subject specific
skills delivered by external experts.

Please note that there is a suggested scheme of work for this unit available within HN Global at
www.highernationals.com.

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The role of the Tutor
All students should have initial guidance in planning their work and regular monitoring meetings.
However, when reviewing drafts of students’ work, tutors should ensure they use their professional
judgement and do not give excessive guidance. The student should meet individually with their tutor
to monitor the project and ensure it is progressing in an appropriate direction and at a pace which will
enable the student to meet the assessment requirements. Interim reviews should be held as necessary
and documented by the student in the logbook. Students will perform best if some time is allocated
within the normal centre timetable for working on the project. The tutor must be able to authenticate
the work as the student’s own, which can be done by regular monitoring of progress and conducting
interim reviews.

Milestones and interim feedback

The purpose of milestones is to monitor the progress of the project and to maintain momentum,
making it more likely that the project will succeed. Each milestone should be a clear, achievable activity
that the student aims to achieve by a predetermined time. Students should agree at least two
milestones with their tutor. Examples of milestones include:
• formulating a first draft of project plan

• completing all primary research

At each milestone, the tutor liaises with the student to check whether it has been achieved. They may
need to redirect the student if necessary.

Authentication of a project
Centres are to provide confirmation of the authenticity of a project. It is important that students are
made aware of the issue of plagiarism. Students are required to sign a declaration stating that the
work they are submitting is their own.

Guidance for Tutors

• You will need to devise a project brief for the student to follow in completion of the assignment
for this unit.

• Project briefs for this unit must be based on a theme and topic chosen from a selection
released by Pearson in the first week of March of every year. You will select the topic from the
selection made available by Pearson.

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• All students must complete the project for the chosen topic in order to complete learning
outcomes for this unit.

• The topic and type of project chosen must be appropriate for small-scale research. The project
must balance the duration of time committed to delivering input to support student's research
and the time necessary to conduct the project.

• The project topic and type of project should be verified by the Programme Leader as part of the
internal verification process.

• Group work is not appropriate for this project. Student work must be individual.

• Teaching delivery must include how the student should go about planning, researching,
conducting, recording and reflecting on the project.

• It is good practice for your scheme of work to include individual student support appointments
to support and monitor completion of the project, and project workshops to give students the
opportunity to complete each stage of the project.

• Encourage students to keep notes of their progress, as this will be required as evidence. A
logbook is recommended.

• Students will need to reflect on the success of their project and their own performance in a
personal performance review at the end of the project. This is a written reflection of 500 words
(students will not be penalised if they exceed this word limit). It is advisable to provide students
with an appropriate structure for this reflection (see the Performance Review template below).

• The project could take the following forms but these are not exclusive:

Types Examples
Research projects
• Professional engineering
research report

• Industrial/commercial fieldwork
investigation

• Feasibility study of company’s

expansion plans

Creating a product/service for internal or

• Fabricating a product prototype
external customers
• Producing equipment test or
training facilities

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 • Developing software/systems
for an engineering application

Engineering management projects

• Work breakdown study
followed by re-organisation of
workshop layout

• Six sigma process improvement

• Implementation of Planned
Preventative Maintenance
system (PPM)

Environmental Awareness
• Product lifecycle assessment

• Environmental impact analysis

Operational change and development

• Organisational systems or
process change

• Introducing new technology

applications to traditional
processes

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Templates for Evidence Collection
The logbook template and performance review questions are examples of what can be used, but
tutors can devise or use other appropriate resources if they wish to do so.

Project Logbook Template

Name:

Project title:

Date:

Update on weekly research/tasks achieved

Points to consider:
• What have you completed?

• Did you fulfil task requirements?

• Are you on track and within deadlines set?

• Did you need to make any changes to your project management plan?

Any risks and/or issues identified?

Points to consider:
• Did you identify risks/issues with a lack of skills required for undertaking
research/tasks?

• Did you identify any additional risks/issues that have an impact on the project
management plan?

Problems encountered

Points to consider:
• What barriers did you face?

• How did you overcome them?

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New ideas and change of project direction

What have you learned about yourself this week?

Points to consider:
• How did you feel when you had to deal with tasks/problems?

• Did you find it useful to complete the tasks?

• How well have you performed? What did you contribute?

• What can you improve on next week?

• How might this learning apply in the future?

Tasks planned for next week

Points to consider:
• Which tasks are a priority?

• Have you set aside sufficient time for completion?

Project plan status to date

(on, ahead, behind)

Supervisor comments to address

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Performance Review Template
Performance Review
• What was the project supposed to accomplish?

• Did the project succeed in its aims? How do you know? Specifically, please outline any
evaluation and assessment undertaken.

• What things do you think worked well and why? Evaluate all aspects of the project (e.g.
initial inception, project activities and project outcomes) from a range of perspectives.

• What problems emerged during the project and how were they tackled? Was there
timely identification of issues and resolution during the project process?

• What did you learn from undertaking the project?

• How would you rate your performance as project manager?

• What strengths and weaknesses of your performance did you identify?

• How will this inform and support your continuous professional engineering
development?

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Guidance for Students
You should read this information before starting on your project. You should refer to these
instructions as you complete work for this unit.
• You must complete the project in order to complete your work for this unit.

• Your centre will set a project brief based on the topic and theme released by Pearson in the first
week of March of every year.

• Read the brief and think about what the project brief is asking.

• Research what the project brief is asking. How can you approach the problem, opportunity,
hypothesis and requirements being posed?

• Apply a range of secondary research sources to plan/scope and support the project and its
findings. Secondary research sources may include textbooks, journal articles, newspapers and
magazine articles (not factual accounts).

• Develop your project plan based on the deliverables of the project, the constraints of the
project and the assumptions made.

• Conduct your project according to your stated project plan and meet with your tutor to receive
a sign-off at each stage of the project process.

• Primary research sources may include original first-hand accounts, legal and historical
documents, results of experiments and research data collection. Apply both qualitative and
quantitative research methods to evaluate data collected from primary research.

• Keep notes of your progress throughout the project. It is important to keep a record of your
work, which must be used to record the development of your ideas and your progress through
the project. For example, a logbook could be used and include:

o A record of what you did, when and what you were thinking.

o A record of where things went wrong and what you did to overcome any unexpected
results.

• You will be asked to reflect on the success of your project and your own performance in a
personal performance review at the end of the project. This is a written reflection of around 500
words.

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Responding to the Project Brief
• Establish your aims and objectives for the project. Outline objectives and timeframes based on
the scenario set by your tutor.

• Produce an appropriate project management plan that includes relevant actions to meet
objectives and timeframes.

• Conduct research to generate knowledge which will form the basis for analysis of the scenario
posed in the brief.

• Analyse your findings and draw conclusions to form the basis for recommendations.

• Present and produce your project in an appropriate manner for the intended audience.

• Communicate your recommendations in an appropriate manner for the intended audience.

• Complete a performance review that addresses the following:

o The success of the project and its effectiveness in addressing the issues identified in the
Pearson-set theme and topic.

o Your own performance.

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Assessment Criteria
Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria

Pass Merit Distinction

LO1 Formulate and plan a project that will provide a solution to an

identified engineering problem

P1 Select an appropriate M1 Undertake a feasibility study D1 Illustrate the effect of

engineering based project, to justify project selection. legislation and ethics on the
giving reasons for the decision making process in
selection. developing the project plan.

P2 Create a project plan for

the engineering project

LO2 Conduct planned project activities to generate outcomes D2 Critically evaluate the
which provide a solution to the identified engineering problem success of the project plan
making recommendations for
P3 Conduct project activities, M2 Explore alternative methods improvements
recording progress against to monitor and meet project
original project plan. milestones, justify selection of
chosen method(s).

LO3 Produce a project report analysing the outcomes of each of

the project processes and stages

P4 Produce a project report M3 Use appropriate critical LO3 LO4

covering each stage of the analysis and evaluation D3 Critically analyse the
project and analysing project techniques to analyse project project outcomes making
outcomes findings. recommendations for further
development
LO4 Present the project report drawing conclusions on the
outcomes of the project

P5 Present the project report M4 Analyse own behaviours and

using appropriate media to an performance during the project
audience and suggest areas for
improvement

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