module specification

This module aims to encourage students to examine a variety of economic, industrial, social and political issues that shape the experience of living in a global city. Weekly workshops, lectures and seminars will offer different dimensions of the variety of ways in which London offers contrasting experiences, competing interests or contested spaces, and these issues will be investigated further in seminar/workshops.

This will be the first time students at level 3 attend formal lectures and seminars and they will be practising and developing key undergraduate study skills such as, note-taking, extended listening skills, pre and post lecture reading activities and reflective writing activities and understanding the etiquette of lectures.

They will be asked in seminars to discuss issues raised in the lectures, and to engage in online activities and try out digital tools to help develop their digital learning skills. The assessment for this module will be for students to write reflectively in series of online activities and build up a digital journal on Weblearn. Success in this module depends upon regular attendance and active participation.

1. To provide you with an introduction to selected subject areas and to see the links between various subject disciplines in FSSH.
2. To help you understand their chosen subject area in a wider context and make informed choices about degree pathways.
3. Introduce you to specific undergraduate study skills
4. Improve their awareness of the importance of digital literacy
5. Further develop reflective writing skills and reflective practice of a learner

The syllabus will introduce students to key themes within the Social Sciences and Humanities, covered in lectures, seminars and workshops.

Content will be provided through a range of formats, with students required to engage with lectures, seminars, reading academic journals, newspaper articles, film, music video and documentary.

The module seeks to develop undergraduate study skills for lectures and seminars, develop digital literacy by focussing on student-centred learning, with ideas generated and developed through extensive discussion, reading, viewing and reflection.

Students will be encouraged to develop and expand their own ideas through active participation and engagement with the lectures, seminars and workshops, reading and reflective writing activities in their digital journals.

The module is delivered through a series of teacher-led lectures, seminars and workshops, with students contributing to discussion, group work and tutorials (60 hrs).

Students will also engage in ongoing guided self and online study to enable them to improve their reading and writing skills and complete required assessment components (90 hrs).

Module information including module booklet and assessment details is available on WebLearn. Blended learning resources such as homework tasks, reading resources, study support resources and web links are also on WebLearn.

At the end of the module you should be able to:

1. understand some key concepts and approaches in their chosen subject area
2. understand the wider context for their chosen subject area by examining the case study from the perspective of different subject areas
3. Have practised and become more aware of various study skills required at undergraduate study
4. have become more aware of their own digital literacy and understand their strengths and weaknesses
5. record and reflect on their own learning and use this to evaluate their achievement and formulate realistic plans to reach clear goals

The module is assessed by one essay. A set of questions will be provided to students at the beginning of the module. 

The submission deadline will be week 12.

There is no indicative background reading list for this module.
Pre and post reading materials related to the lectures and seminars will be posted on Weblearn each week.