Module POC1031 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POC1031: Political Communication
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.
Module Aims
The aim of this module is to:
- Introduce you to a range of key academic skills including research, note making, critical thinking, a range of styles of academic writing, public speaking and project management.
- Give you opportunity to practice, gain ongoing feedback and reflect on these skills in a supportive environment
- Encourage you to reflect on your own perspective within, and relationship with, the academic institution.
- Equip you to think critically about how knowledge is (re)produced and communicated.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
---|---|
Module-Specific Skills | 1. Develop strategic thinking and project management approaches to organise your academic career 2. Critically reflect on how positionality impacts our experience of education and politics 3. Critically engage with and produce a range of different forms of political communication |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 4. Find, read and engage with appropriate research 5. Understand and develop the range of key skills essential for rigorous academic work in a Higher Education setting 6. Employ tools of analysis and critical thinking to compare sources and use research to develop and support your own independent work 7. Communicate your ideas coherently, logically and convincingly through academic writing and other forms of communication |
Personal and Key Skills | 8. Reflect on your own learning and skills in order to think strategically about personal development 9. Work independently and manage time efficiently in preparing for scheduled learning activities, exercises and assessments 10. Work with peers to develop a learning community, and present a reflective project |
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:
- Decolonisation
- Situating the academic institution
- Inclusive learning communities
- Positionality and identity
Key skills focused on may include:
- Research
- Note Making
- Critical Thinking
- Essay Style and Structure
- Public Speaking
- Group Work
- Time Management
- Critical analysis of knowledge sources
- Self-reflection/ attention to partial perspectives
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 |
---|---|---|
27.5 | 122.5 | 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 | 16.5 | 11 x 1.5 hour lectures |
Scheduled Learning & Teaching Activities | 11 | 11 x 1 hour seminars |
Guided Independent Study | 33 | Reading and preparing for seminars |
Guided Independent Study | 22 | Researching and writing formative assessments and assignments |
Guided Independent Study | 67.5 | Preparation for summative assignments |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
Home | StudyHub (fxplus.ac.uk)
SAGE study skills books - helping students study smarter (sagepub.com)
Become a Student and Study Abroad - Times Higher Education
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 |
---|---|---|---|
Formative worksheets and quizzes for seminar | Two guided research activities in preparation for group tutorials | 1-9 | Oral |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Essay | 10 | 800 words | 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9 | Written |
Portfolio | 70 | 2200 words | 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 | Written |
Reflective Group Presentation | 20 | 5 minutes or 500 words per person | 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 | Written |
0 |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
Essay | Essay (800 words) | 1, 2, 3. , 5, 7, 9 | August/September re-assessment period |
Portfolio | 2200 words | 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 | August/September re-assessment period |
Group Presentation | 500 words | 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 | August/September 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.
- Cottrell, Stella. 2019. The Study Skills Handbook – Macmillan Study Skills. Macmillan Education UK.
- Cottrell, Stella. 2017. Critical Thinking Skills: Effective Analysis, Argument and Reflection – Macmillan Study Skills. Macmillan Education UK.
- Gillberg, C., 2020. The significance of crashing past gatekeepers of knowledge towards full participation of disabled scholars in abelist academic structures . In: Ableism in Academia: Theorising the experiences of disabilities and chronic illnesses in higher education. s.l.:UCL Press , pp. 11-26.
- hooks, b., 1994. Confronting Class in the Classroom . In: Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom . London: Routledge , pp. 177-191.
- Hughes, Gareth. 2020. Be Well, Learn Well: Improve Your Wellbeing and Academic Performance. Macmillan Study Skills. Macmillan Education UK.
- Hopkins, Diana. and Reid, Tom. 2018. The Academic Skills Handbook: Your Guide to Success in Writing, Thinking and Communicating at University. SAGE Publications.
- Mirza, Heidi S.. 2018. "Decolonizing Higher Education: Black Feminism and the Intersectionality of Race and Gender." Journal of Feminist Scholarship 7 (Fall): 1-12. https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/jfs/vol7/iss7/3
- Moriña, Anabel. 2016. Inclusive Education in Higher Education: challenges and opportunities. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 32.1, p. 3-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2016.1254964
Web-based and electronic resources:
Home | StudyHub (fxplus.ac.uk)
SAGE study skills books - helping students study smarter (sagepub.com)