Undergraduate Module Descriptor

PHL3040: Philosophy Dissertation

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

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Summer:
Students to think about a possible topic and select possible supervisor; introductory lecture available online.

Term 1:
Week 2: 2-hour lecture and Q&A, to get students started and finalise allocations of supervisors.
Week 4: Submission of dissertation plan and initial bibliography (via BART).
Week 7: 3-hour small group seminar with student presentations, and feedback from supervisor and others students.
Weeks 8-12: At least one extended meeting with the supervisor before the Winter break is highly recommended!

Term 2:
Week 3: 1-hour lecture and Q&A about practical matters (bibliography, reference formats, and so on)
Week 6: Submission of first dissertation draft (ca. 5000 words) through BART
Week 6: 3-hour small group seminar with student presentations on their drafts, and feedback from supervisor and others students.
Weeks 9-11: At least one extended meeting with the supervisor before the Spring break is highly recommended!

End of April/Beginning of May:
Submission of the completed dissertation through BART.

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
16	284	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 and Teaching activity	12	Personal meetings with the supervisor
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity	3	1 seminar per term in small groups with student project presentations
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity	1	Lectures and presentations in Term One
Guided Independent study	284	Private study: hours are approximate and may vary depending on student skill. Literature search, reading and analysis (130 hours), preparing presentations for the seminars (8 hours), writing of draft (60 hours) and final dissertation (86 hours)

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
Dissertation title and study plan	1 page	1, 2,7, 10	Written and verbal
Bibliography	1 page	1, 2, 4, 9	Written and verbal
Penultimate draft	Variable	1-11	Written and verbal

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
Dissertation	100	9,000 words	1-11	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
Dissertation	Dissertation (9,000 words)	1-11	August/September reassessment period