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.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.

On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. 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 Skills5. 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 Skills8. 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.