IF3072 - Fundamentals of UK Law (2020/21)
| Module specification | Module approved to run in 2020/21 | |||||||||||||||
| Module title | Fundamentals of UK Law | |||||||||||||||
| Module level | Foundation (03) | |||||||||||||||
| Credit rating for module | 15 | |||||||||||||||
| School | School of Social Professions | |||||||||||||||
| Total study hours | 150 | |||||||||||||||
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| Assessment components |
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| Running in 2020/21(Please note that module timeslots are subject to change) |
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Module summary
This module aims to:
1. Introduce students to the nature and role of law, the role and function of a legal system, and key aspects of law making and associated institutions within and affecting the UK.
2. Introduce students to subject-specific study skills.
3. Develop critical writing skills.
Syllabus
Content may change but an indicative syllabus could include a selection from the following:
LO 1
The Importance of Law;
Philosophy of law: the pursuit of justice, freedom, and equality;
Legal reasoning & argument;
Introduction to UK & EU legal systems & institutions;
Cases and the Courts;
Acts of Parliament;
International law: specific and relevant international concerns:eg: environment, terrorism, international violence, human rights, cultural differences, and poverty.
Students will be encouraged to develop reading & writing strategies and independent study techniques. LO2
Students will be encouraged to articulate their understanding and reflections using appropriate terminology and academic language and develop confidence and appropriate use of language in academic speaking. LO 3
Balance of independent study and scheduled teaching activity
Reading is set in advance; students review, discuss and reflect on the reading in class. The sessions are interactive and aimed at critically engaging with the ideas. In-class activities may also include reading and note making, collaborative and individual writing, reflection, planning and confidence-building activities. (36 hrs).
Students are encouraged to develop independent reading around the topics covered. They will engage in ongoing guided and self-directed study to enable them to complete required assessment components (90 hrs).
Module information, class notes, assessment details and learning resources are available on WebLearn. Students are encouraged to contribute to discussion board threads.
Students are encouraged to reflect on the module content and their progress through formative assessment and feedback.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
At the end of the module students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the key features of the legal systems & associated institutions within and affecting the UK.
2. Demonstrate good practice in relation to reading, information retrieval, and discussion & debate in this subject area sufficient to progress to level 4
3. Construct coherent well-structured writing that demonstrates an understanding of the subject area, sufficient to progress to level 4.
Assessment strategy
Formative assessment is ongoing. Students will be guided on how to use the feedback to feed forward into the summative assessment.
Summative assessment will consist of an in-class written assessment (100%).
Students taking a reassessment in the summative component will do so by means of an equivalent coursework submission.
Bibliography
Core Text:
Slapper, G. (2016) How the Law Works. Routledge
Other texts:
Barnard, C; O'Sullivan,J & Virgo, G (Editors) (2011) What About Law?: Studying Law at University (2nd edition). Hart
Lowe, V. (2015) International Law: A Very Short Introduction. OUP
Sands, P (2017) East West Street. Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Wacks, R. (2015) Law: A Very Short Introduction. OUP
Other:
Additional resources are distributed in class and posted on the weblearn VLE. These are regularly updated and selected according to students’ needs, interests and to reflect current events.