Postgraduate Module Descriptor

POLM882DA: Stakeholders and Complex Systems

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Aims

This module will help apprentices meet a range of skills (S1, S5, S6, S7, S8), knowledges (K1, K2, K3) and behaviours (B3, B8, B9) implicit in the IATE Systems Thinking Practitioner standard.

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 Skills	1. Articulate and critically evaluate the position and role of stakeholders and people in the evolution of the soft systems school of systems thought 2. Generate stakeholder interest and influence system maps for building effective, ethical, and critically considered intervention regimes. 3. Lead stakeholder interventions under complexity and uncertainty 4. Account for the benefits, limitations and contexts for qualitative and quantitative data gathering for building stakeholder systems maps and interventions 5. Account for the benefits, limitations and contexts of different stakeholder engagement and change implementation strategies
Discipline-Specific Skills	6. Engender new and developed stakeholder engagement and collaboration skills for inter and cross disciplinary / organisational problem solving 7. Integrate systems knowledges, laws, and concepts in the development of appropriate stakeholder intervention regime 8. Deliver engagements that influence and enthuse stakeholders through complex systems environments
Personal and Key Skills	9. Demonstrate self-reflective empathy and emotional intelligence for influencing, leading, and educating.

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:

Evidence-based policy making
Stakeholder mapping approaches
Stakeholder theory
Leading stakeholder/change interventions

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
22.5	67.5

...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	22.5	Masterclasses The masterclasses are where apprentices are given day length teaching and learning, contextualised through practical group exercises.
Guided Independent Study	67.5	Weekly study sessions. One day per week spent on guided, independent, group and informational sessions to enhance, contextualise, and practice the learnings from masterclasses.

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

How this Module is Assessed

In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.

Formative Assessment

A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Poster: stakeholder mapping (A3)	A3 poster (10 mins presentation)	1, 5, 7	Written

Summative Assessment

A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Applied essay	65	3500 words	1, 3, 7	Written
Stakeholder system mapping (pictorial and written report)	35	Eight pages (approx./equivalent to 2,000 words)	2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9	Written

Re-assessment

Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Applied essay	Applied Essay 3500 words	1, 3, 7	Next re-assessment period
Stakeholder system mapping (pictorial and written)	Stakeholder system mapping (pictorial and written) eight pages/2000 words	2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9	Next re-assessment period

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Freeman RE, Harrison JS and Zyglidopoulos S (2018). Stakeholder Theory: Concepts and Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Meadows D. (2008). Thinking in Systems. Chelsea Green Publishing: London.