module specification

GI6W01 - Placement 1 Year (2023/24)

Module specification Module approved to run in 2023/24
Module title Placement 1 Year
Module level Honours (06)
Credit rating for module 30
School School of Social Sciences and Professions
Total study hours 300
 
140 hours Placement / study abroad
10 hours Scheduled learning & teaching activities
75 hours Guided independent study
75 hours Assessment Preparation / Delivery
Assessment components
Type Weighting Qualifying mark Description
Dissertation 80%   Dissertation (5000 words)
Coursework 20%   Placement Report (1000 words)
Running in 2023/24

(Please note that module timeslots are subject to change)
Period Campus Day Time Module Leader
Year North Tuesday Afternoon

Module summary

This alternate-core module providing a vocational and advanced undergraduate research element for Politics and International Relations courses aims to:

1. Enable you to gain a useful experience of the working environment.

2. Enable you to enhance and extend your learning experience by applying and building on your academic skills and capabilities by tackling real life problems in the workplace.

3. Provide you with an opportunity to design a research proposal relevant to your placement.

4. Allow you to utilise research and analytical skills acquired during your programme of studies.

5. Enable you to undertake relevant research and write up findings in dissertation form.

6. Offer a medium for you to report upon your work placement experience.

Prior learning requirements

None.

Available for Study Abroad.

Syllabus

Support for students in the search for a placement from academic staff and the Careers Service; Undertaking a work placement in an organisation; Lectures/Workshops on Choosing a topic, Researching and Presenting Work, Role of the Supervisor; Preparation; Organisation of Materials; Collecting Information; Methodology; Research Proposal; Bibliographies and Referencing; Quotations; Avoiding Plagiarism; Guide to Electronic Resources; The Internet; Databases; Guide to other Library Resources.

Balance of independent study and scheduled teaching activity

The module will be delivered through lectures/workshops and personal supervision. There will be a blended approach to learning so that contact time with academic staff is complemented by a range of on-line resources, particularly delivered by using Weblearn.

In completing the module students are expected to develop skills to enable them to: choose and obtain a placement with an employer; Select and define a topic of research; Produce a research proposal; Display analytical capability; Work on their own under the guidance of a supervisor; Understand how to conduct research at undergraduate honours level - this may involve: Searching for, consulting and organising Primary and Secondary Source Material; Making Notes; Submitting properly referenced work in accordance with academic guidelines; Discovering the potential and limitations of the Internet; Write up a dissertation that is a coherent academic study. 20% of the assessment on the module is allocated to a placement report that the student produces on their placement and their experiences thereof.

Students keep a record of their placement activity as it progresses. They set themselves some realistic learning aims and objectives for the placement and agree these with their employer and supervisor in advance. The student draws the analysis together thematically producing the final placement report.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

1. Demonstrate that you have operated effectively, both independently and with others, in a structured and routinely supervised work placement environment.

2. Demonstrate that you pursued a rational and organised approach, applying previously known or new techniques to the task(s) set during the placement.

3. Reflect upon the role you performed and your place within the organisation hosting the placement.

4. Describe, analyse and evaluate the structure, major activities, attributes and responsibilities of the placement organisation in a report.

5. Develop a final profile of personal/professional attributes within the context of qualities and transferable skills, including self-evaluation, necessary for employment and further study or professional development, articulated through a report.

6. Understand how to conduct research at an advanced undergraduate level.

7. Demonstrate their ability to undertake relevant research and write up findings in dissertation form.

Assessment strategy

The final 5000 word dissertation carries 80% of the mark. Through attending the lectures and workshops and via personal supervision by a member of academic staff students will uunderstand how to conduct research at an advanced undergraduate level. Through the production of the dissertation students will demonstrate their ability to undertake relevant research and write up findings in dissertation form.

The placement report accounts for 20% of the mark. Through conducting the placement students ddemonstrate that they have operated effectively, both independently and with others, in a structured and routinely supervised work placement environment. They will demonstrate that they pursued a rational and organised approach, applying previously known or new techniques to the task(s) set during the placement. They will reflect upon the role they performed and their place within the organisation hosting the placement. They will describe, analyse and evaluate the structure, major activities, attributes and responsibilities of the placement organisation in the report. They develop a final profile of personal/professional attributes within the context of qualities and transferable skills, including self-evaluation, necessary for employment and further study or professional development, articulated through the report.

Bibliography