Module POC3136 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POC3136: Field Trip
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.
Module Aims
This module is intended to familiarise you with using ethnographic fieldwork within a safe and controlled setting, and under the supervision of staff, to develop and expand your independent scholarship. The course highlights the interconnections between space and politics through an exploration of various social and geographical spaces that form the background of political activity in a field trip location. It does so by enabling you to visit symbolic spaces of commemoration, negotiation, learning and debate. You will gain the capacity to integrate field methods such as participant observation of everyday events and sites, exploratory conversations with community members, situated analyses of grassroots organizations and visual, aesthetic, spatial, and economic analyses of politicised spaces and public forums. You will learn how to keep an ethnographic notebook of your travels, collect photos of meaningful sites, and carefully observe the landscape (‘natural’ and built environment). You will visit places such as museums and memorializations, community organizations, and practice approaching these sites through various lenses, working in student groups organized around substantive theoretical, practical and methodological research themes.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. demonstrate in both oral and written work substantive knowledge of major political dynamics affecting a field trip location, across multiple scales, in the various subfields we examine; 2. demonstrate in the field and in assessments the ability to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different research methods in oral and written work; 3. demonstrate in written and oral work the ability to apply a range of theories about politics and change to historical and contemporary debates; |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 4. demonstrate in oral and written work the ability to apply political concepts and theories to specific case study sites; 5. synthesize field observations and research to support critical engagements with and extensions of existing literatures; 6. demonstrate in your oral and written work understanding of the implications of new evidence for a given political perspective; 7. demonstrate in your oral and written work that you understand different methods of research in the field and their implications for findings; |
| Personal and Key Skills | 8. work independently and in groups, including presentations for class discussion, and in spontaneous discussion and defence of arguments in class, and to manage conflict; 9. demonstrate analytical, creative, critical and organizational capacity in essays, group presentations and group discussion; 10. write essays and complete assessments to a deadline. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team Formative: Seminar Plan (4-8 students/team) | 10 minutes during office hours + 1-page summary | 1, 3, 4-7 | Written Feedback |
| Individual Formative: Ethics, Methods and Research Reflection | 500 words + 5 citations | 2, 4-7 | Peer and Written 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.
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 80 | 0 | 20 |
...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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team-led Seminar (4-8 students/team) | 20 | 45 minutes per team | 1, 3, 4-9 | Written Feedback |
| Methods Portfolio | 30 | 4 pieces of writing + visual documentation (2,000 words total) | 1-10 | Written Feedback |
| Critical Research Essay (that explores a problem or question in contemporary politics using the field site as a locus of analysis. Essays should engage seminar and workshop themes and incorporate field research from the trip.) | 50 | 4,000 words | 1-10 | Written Feedback |
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team-led Seminar | Seminar plan + presentation slides and speaking notes | 1, 3, 4-9 | August/September reassessment period |
| Methods Portfolio | Methods Portfolio 4 pieces of writing + visual documentation (2,000 total) | 1-10 | August/September reassessment period |
| Critical Research Essay | Critical Research Essay (4,000 words) | 1-10 | August/September reassessment period |
Re-assessment notes
Reassessment of the presentation will take the form of a seminar plan, presentation slides and speaking notes.
