Module EFPM900 for 2019/0
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Postgraduate Module Descriptor
EFPM900: The Contemporary Academic in Context
This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.
Module Aims
This module aims to provide an understanding of the principles of academic practice and its political and social contexts. Its purpose is to support you in building on your existing skills and knowledge in order to become effective academics and professionals operating in your departments, in the university and in the national and international context. It is intended to enhance your confidence and effectiveness through informed reflection on your own practice and to enable you to thrive within a research-intensive university such as the University of Exeter.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. Demonstrate knowledge of, and contribute to, key debates about academic practice, at local, national and international level; 2. Demonstrate critical understanding of the organisational culture of the University of Exeter and the requirements placed on academic staff, and the ability to relate this to the broader social and political context of higher education in the UK and beyond 3. Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of selected techniques/methodologies applicable to academic practice in relation to areas such as teaching and learning, research, administration and external work; 4. Explore critically, with originality, an individual area, relating to the contemporary academic in context, relevant to your own practice |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 5. Demonstrate critical awareness of higher education policy and its implications for professional academic practice; 6. Demonstrate critical and analytical engagement with relevant literatures, and the capacity to evaluate the arguments of others; 7. Demonstrate critical awareness of similarities and differences in the cultures of different subject disciplines; |
| Personal and Key Skills | 8. Engage in independent study informed by the presentation and analysis of materials and issues in group discussion; 9. Reflect on your own personal and professional values in relation to teaching and research, and their implications for practice; 10. Reflect critically on your own professional practice, including the relationship between your personal teaching and research plans; and 11. Prepare, select and organise material to present an extended study which communicates clearly and effectively. |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:
- the social, cultural and policy context of the contemporary university, in particular research-intensive universities such as the University of Exeter;
- the nature of contemporary academic practice in all its dimensions: research, teaching, citizenship/leadership, and business and community relations; and
- the relationship between research and teaching and how to negotiate them as a new academic.
Additional elements will be designed in collaboration with you, as participants, in order to reflect your own priorities and the needs of your department, as determined in prior and on-going discussions between you and your Academic Leads.
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | 278 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities | 21 | 3 study days (each of approximately 7 hours), involving whole group sessions, comprised of a combination of activities, such as interactive lectures, discussion groups, collaborative small group tasks, poster presentations, and panel discussions. |
| Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities | 1 | Individual tutorial |
| Guided Independent Study | 20 | Preparing a poster relating to your Extended Study |
| Guided Independent Study | 100 | Undertaking reading relating to your Extended Study |
| Guided Independent Study | 100 | Undertaking data collection and analysis (or equivalent) relating to your Extended Study |
| Guided Independent Study | 58 | Writing your Extended Study |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) website: https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/
Advance HE - Higher Education Academy (HEA) website: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/
The WonkHE website: http://wonkhe.com/
