Module POL3275 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POL3275: The Politics and Policies of Youth Engagement
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Aims
The module will provide you with:
- Comprehensive knowledge of the competing theoretical explanations for the causes of youth disengagement, including the role of social capital, socialisation, political literacy, exclusion, and efficacy.
- A critical understanding of the nature and sustainability of democratic practice in established systems, within which the issue of youth engagement is framed
- The opportunity to evaluate policy responses to the issue in the UK and a selection of EU countries, including the agenda and discussions of the new UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Political Literacy
- A global perspective on the changing nature and need for youth engagement in civic and political life
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
---|---|
Module-Specific Skills | 1. Critically evaluate the key theories of youth disengagement in relation to causes and consequences 2. Explain and question the conceptual and practical changes to participation from a global perspective, utilising quantitative data 3. Identify and discuss political issues and framing in youth participation policy and discourse |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 4. Appraise the implications of research methods on measuring political concepts 5. Deploy theoretical arguments and apply them to empirical case studies |
Personal and Key Skills | 6. Demonstrate proficiency in the use of the internet, online journal databases and other IT resources for the purposes of tutorial and assessment preparation. 7. Implement the ability to communicate clearly and effectively in discussion and feedback with peers 8. Write clearly and coherently to construct rigorous arguments |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover for example the following topics:
- The decline of democracy; which ‘democracy’ and why?
- The challenges and opportunities in the measurement and conception of participation
- Alternative, alienated and apathetic: causes and consequences of youth disengagement
- Young People’s Politics: Brexit, the Climate Crisis, Inequality, Protest and Political Literacy
- Comparative approaches: central policy responses to youth disengagement in the UK and EU, with a focus on civic education and the rise of deliberative democracy
- Global participation; with a focus on the MENA region post ‘Arab spring’ and the contemporary protests in Asia
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 | 128 | 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 | 22 | 11 x 2-hour seminars |
Guided Independent Study | 50 | Private study; reading and preparing for seminars |
Guided Independent Study | 78 | Preparation for assessments; including researching and collating relevant sources; planning the structure and argument; writing up the essay and constructing the research brief |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
Essay Plan | 500 words | 2-3, 6-7 | Peer Feedback Oral and 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Policy Brief | 25 | 800 words | 1-6, 8 | Written |
Essay | 75 | 2500 words | 1-6, 8 | 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 |
---|---|---|---|
Policy Brief | Policy Brief | 1-7 | August-September |
Essay | Essay | 1-6, 8 | August-September |
Re-assessment notes
As students will select their own topic for both forms of assessment, where it is a deferred assessment, it can be undertaken as usual. If it is a referred assessment, students must select a different topic for whichever element they are re-taking.