Master of Arts in Childhood and Youth - Applied Perspectives

at University of Bedfordshire - Luton Campus United Kingdom

This course is designed for non-computing graduates who need to apply information technology to their current career, or want to change career direction. It covers a wide range of topics including programming, databases, security, project management and computer networking, giving you both the underpinning theory and the ability to apply it to complex real-world problems, as well as an awareness of emerging technologies and developments.

Why choose this course?

• Study key areas of information technology including applications of web technologies, information systems strategy and emerging technologies
• Explore creative and innovative applications of technology  to real-world problems
• Develop your analytical, evaluative and problem-solving skills in relation to IT-based solutions
• Gain a thorough understanding of the social and legal aspects of the Information Technology field (e.g. British Computer Society Code of Conduct and Data Protection)
• Benefit from valuable experience of working on projects for real business, opening up new career opportunities in management, supervision or as a practitioner (eg database/IT developer or system designer/analyst) in industries which make substantial use of computers and information technology.

If you’re looking to explore your creativity, establish your own unique style and take contemporary fashion design by storm, our course has the dedicated facilities and equipment, track record and industry links to get your designs on the domestic and international catwalks.

Both our course and highly experienced academic team encourage you to experiment with designs, materials and garment-making while giving you the practical tools and wider experience you need to develop your individual creative approach.

Based at Alexon House, previously home to one of the UK's leading fashion houses, the course offers industry-standard manufacturing facilities and the latest textile processes with access to high-spec technology including digital textile printing and pattern cutting; computer-aided design; and 3D printing.

As part of our industry speaker series, you meet designers, artist, editors, curators and recruiters on a weekly basis while also getting the opportunity to join international trips to visit trade fairs and galleries.

You graduate ready for industry with a professional portfolio, following in the footsteps of previous graduates, who have gone on to work with Alexander McQueen, Mary Katranzou, Lulu Liu, Sopie Webster, Amanda Wakeley, Zandra Rhodes, Love Magazine and Denza International. Some of our graduates have started their own label, such as Aaugust, who won Young Designer of the Year at Africa Fashion Week London.

Why choose this course?

• You learn the specialised design and craft skills you need to make your mark in the domestic and international fashion industry
• You study in a dedicated, stimulating and lively studio environment with a sewing machine for every student
• Our close links with the industry and leading fashion designers mean you work on real briefs and live projects; you’re also encouraged to enter competitions and awards
• Your personal creative development is underpinned by a sound knowledge the history of fashion design; contemporary debates in fashion; multicultural and international contexts; and understanding of the wider visual world
• At Alexon House, you are part of a community spanning the art, design and creative industries, and can explore related disciplines such as digital photography, screen-printing and illustration
• You can challenge established designers when you prepare a garment collection and showcase your work on the runway at our Graduate Fashion Show
• There’s the option to take the course over four years and benefit from a fee-free work placement (see below) which will widen your experience, add to your CV and offer the opportunity to make useful contacts for the future
• If you have completed an appropriate foundation degree or HND, you can join this course at stage three

While teaching you all the essential skills you need to work creatively as an animator - including visual thinking, model-making, 3D design, digital illustration and time-based media – this wide-ranging course also gives you the confidence to respond to briefs, create independent projects and work collaboratively within the creative industries.

Our Animation BA (Hons) is based in narrative and storytelling for short-form film, the moving image industry and communication design. Students work on live briefs, submit for national competitions and work on projects with our expert academic team.

You learn your craft through practical workshop sessions, sustained practice in the studio, some work-related learning opportunities with ‘live briefs’, one-to-one tutorials, seminars, demonstrations and independent research. All your instruction takes into consideration professional and work-related practices.

In the first year, we introduce the key skills in animation, building a close relationship between practice and theory. In your second year, you work more independently, taking ownership of your creativity and its outcomes.

At the end of the course, you take on a creative project of your own, demonstrating your insight into the critical, cultural and professional contexts in which your work is placed.

Why choose this course?

• It enables you to study, develop and apply critical enquiry skills to a wide range of key ideas and contemporary professional practice
• Practical learning activities give you the opportunity to tackle visual problems and explore ideas relevant to animation
• It builds your understanding of animation’s different contexts, and its wider global impact on social, environmental and political issues
• It equips you with the knowledge, experience and understanding of design environments you need to communicate and present ideas and work to audiences in a range of situations
• It gives you the skills to work effectively with others, through collaboration, collective support and negotiation
• It offers insights into professional practice that will prepare you for a future career in the creative industries as well as the world of work generally
• You have the option to take your degree over four years and include a fee-free placement year in industry when you can gain practical experience, build your CV and make valuable contacts

This BA (Hons) Psychology course explores how professional psychologists use evidence-based practice to make a difference in people’s lives. It also introduces you to the psychological theories that explain human thoughts, emotions and behaviour.

The course shows how applying psychological knowledge can help us better understand and explain human behaviour. You learn about the key approaches - cognitive, social, developmental, biological, individual-difference psychology – as well as investigating psychological theories; historical and conceptual issues; and research methods.

In your final year, you complete a literature-based Honours project.

Why choose this course?

• Apply theory to real-life situations so you understand how psychology works in the real world
• Explore different perspectives on issues and problems, and learn to evaluate them in a critical manner
• Learn with an academic team actively involved in leading-edge research, activity which feeds back directly into your learning
• Benefit from studying in our modern facilities with a range of up-to-the-minute equipment to aid your learning
• Develop skills highly valued by potential employers such as the ability to conduct research, manage projects, problem solving, critical analysis, communication and team-working
• Use your degree to move on to postgraduate education and training to become a chartered psychologist, or specialise in a specific field such as forensic or health psychology
• It can open doors to a career in research, the prison service, police, social services, the mental health sector, business and HR, and teaching

The MBA is a flagship generalist management qualification designed to meet the needs of early career individuals and is structured to support your aspirations for fast track career progression through the development of leadership and strategic management skills and a contemporary understanding of business.

The course adopts a practice-led curriculum and aims to develop an advanced knowledge of organisations and their effective management in the dynamic competitive global context, and the ability to creatively apply this knowledge and understanding to complex issues to systematically and innovatively enhance strategic business and management practice.

This offers a challenging learning opportunity to encourage the integration of theory and practice supported by experienced academics with substantial management experience.

Through practice events you will work with academics and professors of practice on live consultancy projects with leading employers in organisations across private, public and not-for-profit sectors to support your personal and professional development as a creative and innovative leader with the knowledge and skills needed in the global, knowledge-based economy.

You will develop the attributes and skills expected of post-graduates, as recognised by professional and industry bodies such as the Chartered Management Institute and the Confederation of British Industry, including team-working, negotiation skills, leadership, confidence and the ability to apply critical and creative thinking to complex and unclear problems to develop innovative solutions.

This degree aims to enhance your professional prospects by developing your capability to apply the latest thinking relating to organisational development and change in the competitive global context. Successful completion of the MBA highlights your potential to have a real impact on the transformation of the organisation you join.

Our interior spaces are where we spend most of our lives so their design affects us every day, whether we’re at home, at work or at play. This course gives you the skills to explore and create amazing interior designs for true ‘living’ spaces.

The course shares with Interior Architecture a fascination with how people, activities and places interrelate. It gives you many opportunities to study a range of real-life interior spaces as well as developing your own design solutions that work in creative, practical and functional ways.

You gain skills and expertise in space planning, ergonomics, design composition, colour theory, building technology, environmental control and design for sustainability. You also learn to use the latest digital design technologies such as computer-aided design; digital image creation and manipulation; and video production and editing.

Why choose this course?

• Develop a creative and critical understanding of building structure and fabric while exploring the design of interior environments in urban, suburban and rural contexts
• Study the refurbishment of existing buildings; television, film and exhibition design; and virtual environments
• Learn from an experienced academic team, applying the latest innovations to contemporary design problems
• Gain confidence through the course to work independently on a final-year project
• Work in bespoke studio spaces, surrounded by creatives, in the University’s repurposed Art & Design centre, Alexon House - formerly home to a leading fashion label
• Take the course over four years and include a fee-free year’s placement in industry (see below), gaining experience and making contacts for the future

This course gives you the flexibility to develop your own practice, whilst working on cross-disciplinary projects and building a research and practice portfolio. The MA provides an exciting environment for you to develop your personal practice and Project management skills supported by established practitioner/tutors in your chosen field.

Why choose this course?

• A wide range of facilities with access to technical and digital media such laser-cutting, 3D printing, image processing software, moving image software, high definition photographic equipment and high-quality photo screen-printing.
• A teaching and learning strategy that is aimed at giving a robust focus to your artistic or design practice.
• Dedicated studio space for you to work, access to workshops and technical support
• Collaboration and guiding undergraduate students hands-on practical
• One-to-one contact with staff with an emphasis on your personal creative development and Project management. Personal tutor in your discipline

Combining practical design skills with creative problem-solving and reflective insight, this inspirational course offers a thorough grounding in contemporary and evolving forms of visual communication across a wide range of platforms, from digital to print, moving image to illustration.

Our degree course explores all contexts where graphic design is found such as digital content; interface design; web and social media; editorial design; print and publishing; moving image; visual identity; typography; and graphic illustration.

Working in creative teams, you learn about materials and methods in a cluster which includes Illustration, Animation, and Advertising and Branding Design. You also study studio practice; collaborative enterprise; context and meaning; and professional practice. This winning combination allows you to develop practical design skills as well as the ability to work collaboratively and show entrepreneurship.

We foster a reflective, outward-looking approach to design challenges; for example, by exploring the ways digital media has created new possibilities for producing, distributing and publishing graphic design work. We also believe a sense of responsibility is essential for a contemporary designer so ethics, sustainability and inclusion are fundamental themes running through the course’s context and debate.

Why choose this course?

• Study in small, lively and committed groups, in spacious, well-equipped studios
• Gain a solid knowledge of the cultural, critical and creative contexts of contemporary practice including how social media has transformed the role of the graphic designer
• Work on live briefs, submit for national competitions and participate in collaborative projects with leading design practitioners
• Learn the team skills required for exhibition curation and group collaborations
• Understand the standards you’ll need to reach to enter the world of professional employment
• Take the course over four years and benefit from a fee-free year in industry (see below), gaining experience and making contacts for the future
• If you need a step-up into higher education, start with a Foundation Year (see below) which guarantees entry into the degree course on completion

If you’re interested in a career in forensic science, we have a crime scene for you! A unique mix of biosciences and criminal psychology, our degree course offers you the opportunity for practical forensic processing in our crime scene facility.

Technological advances have made the role of the forensic scientist – the expert who collects, preserves and analyses evidence - increasingly important in crime investigation, and also in other fields such as archaeology.

The course starts with an introduction to psychology and the sciences relevant to forensics, followed by more detailed applied forensics including the preparation of evidence for court, pathology, medical physiology and haematology. You’ll also study the most recent advances in DNA analysis, toxicology, criminal psychology, and fire and explosive analysis.

Why choose this course?

• The Forensic Science team includes international experts in the psychology of criminal behaviour and forensics experts from a variety of operational backgrounds
• Our teaching is rated as ‘Excellent’ by the QAA and the team is part of a highly experienced department that has run biological science courses for over 30 years
• You’ll study in a specialist forensic laboratory, with key laboratory skills incorporated into most of the taught units, especially your final-year research project
• You’ll learn the skills and techniques needed to evaluate a real-life crime scene in our scene-of-crime lab, designed to resemble an 'normal' flat
• There’s the option to take the course over four years and include a year’s work placement (see below) to gain experience and industry contacts
• If you’d like to step-up into higher education, you can take an introductory Foundation Year (see below), which guarantees entry to the Undergraduate course

    "Studying forensic science with Bedfordshire has been an awesome, inspiring experience, with lecturers who are specialists with industry experience in the areas they teach. I highly recommend anyone wishing to study this subject with Beds to 'Go 4 it'."

This course offers you the opportunity to develop a particular strength in the management of international business issues, with a particular focus on aviation management.

You will focus on strategic areas of international business, intercultural competencies, financial management aviation strategy and management all framed by the lens of developing patterns of world trade and the global market place.

As the business world morphs to accommodate the dynamic economic environment of today, this course introduces non-specialists to a range of business functional areas so that you become knowledgeable and effective managers.

You'll develop a deep understanding of organisations and their external context. You also learn how to manage yourself, and others, in a supportive and academic environment.

The course focuses on developing an awareness of business operations in an international environment, the aviation strategy and management governing international business and investments, finance and cultural awareness in global contexts.