AP0603 - Advanced Forensic Investigation

You will learn through a mixture of lectures, tutorials and practical/ ICT sessions.

Lead lectures will introduce different topics and include in-class exercises, such as discussions of case studies, interpretation of practical data to reinforce the material from the traditional lecture sessions and provide informal formative feedback to you. Tutorial and practical work will allow you to further develop subject specific skills, illustrate appropriate aspects of the theory, and allow you to put theoretical principles into practice.

Where appropriate, taught sessions will have associated directed learning materials, for example advance preparation for practical sessions and/ or the scholarship of case studies, which will be used with specific questions to test your ability to apply your knowledge and understand the real life application to crime.

You will be expected and encouraged to undertake a more independent approach to your learning by reading around the subject and for completion of assignments, through the use of recommended databases and literature sources.

You will be supported through active participation and discussion during tutorials and practicals. These offer a unique opportunity to fully understand the scientific theory underpinning the laboratory tests and the interpretation of your scientific findings.

All lecture and practical material will be available on the University’s eLearning Portal, supplemented with guidance on further reading relevant to the subjects.

Written assessment feedback will also be provided to allow you to understand how you performed and how you can build on this performance in subsequent assessments within your programme.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
• You will critically apply your knowledge and understanding of forensic aspects of crime to open-ended real-world scenarios
• You will demonstrate a broad knowledge of wider concepts and principles in forensic science and relevant specialist areas

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
• You will demonstrate your ability to research, extract, prioritise and utilse scientific data from a range of sources using a of variety of research tools

Assessment is by unseen examination, which is 100% of the module total. This will feature questions designed to demonstrate breadth and depth of knowledge related to application of the Casework Assessment and Interpretation (CAI) model in the evaluative stage of crime investigation, as well as of the forensic interpretation of analytical findings. MLO's 1-3

Class exercises, tutorials and practical sessions will provide opportunities for students to develop their skills and assess their knowledge with embedded formative feedback.

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This module will focus on the use of forensic interpretation to support the Criminal Justice System in decision making. Emphasis will be based on the Casework Assessment and Interpretation (CAI) model in the evaluative stage of crime investigation, as well as the use of the Bayesian approach to evaluate the strength of evidence and the conclusions/limitations that can be drawn from the analytical results.