Undergraduate Module Descriptor

LAW3910: Psychology and Law Research Project

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

Module Aims

The aim of the Psychology and Law Research Project is to give you the opportunity to work in a research environment and to draw on your experiences in this research environment to develop and complete a research project. This is different from a traditional doctrinal dissertation that is closely linked to the study of specific legal rules and / or principles. The aims of the project are to enable you to develop individual independent research skills, to obtain a good knowledge of the issues pertaining to your placement or experience, to develop your abilities to explore legal and/or socio-legal issues in-depth and to present legal/socio-legal arguments and opinions in relation to your chosen area of law/socio-legal study through fieldwork or other relevant study.

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 an in-depth knowledge of the issues which form the basis of the research project subject matter;
2. demonstrate an ability to reflect on your learning from the psychology and law lab;
3. demonstrate an ability to apply skills and knowledge of the law in a research environment;
4. handle and analyse legal and/ or socio-legal research data and materials.
Discipline-Specific Skills5. demonstrate the ability to conduct effective research and to critically evaluate your internship experience
6. demonstrate knowledge of legal concepts; provide detailed knowledge of the academic background to your experiential learning.
Personal and Key Skills7. organise independent study;
8. demonstrate an ability to research;
9. digest and organise relevant materials and use these cumulatively in the preparation and presentation of a research paper.

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 assessmentSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Research reflection paper on term 1 work (to include introduction, methods, results, and discussion section). 1500 words1-9Individual written and oral feedback
Research plan1000 words1-4,7-9Individual written and oral feedback

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.

CourseworkWritten examsPractical exams
10000

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

Form of assessment% of creditSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Research project report754000 words1-9Written feedback
Research poster251000 words equivalent1-4,7-9Written feedback

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 assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
Research project reportResearch project report (4000 words)1-9August/September Reassessment Period
Research posterResearch poster (1000 words equivalent)1-4,7-9August/September Reassessment Period