Module ANT3054 for 2022/3
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
ANT3054: Gardening, Wellbeing and Community
This module descriptor refers to the 2022/3 academic year.
Module Aims
This is a practical module set within an academic context. To that end, you will apply knowledge you acquire through the study of: agroecology, ethnobotany, soil ecology, nutrition, health and well-being. You will network with food practitioners in public institutions, private enterprises, third sector organisations and social enterprises with an interest in alternative forms and methods of producing food, as well as with academics studying these. The skills acquired will enable you to pursue careers in gardening and/or growing food in public institutions, private enterprises, third sector organisations and social enterprises. You will learn how to use gardening/growing food within a range of contexts, including working with school children; working in community development; or working to promote well-being and support people with mental health challenges.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. Develop a high level of practical skills in the design and management of a range of growing techniques 2. Recognise and assess the causes of success and failure associated with particular growing techniques |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. Recognize and differentiate a range of culturally-variable food sources and food-growing methods and produce accounts of these 4. Understand how food procurement and production fit within the broader natural environment and provide analysis of these |
| Personal and Key Skills | 5. Assess both the benefits and difficulties associated with different forms of own-growing, such as promoting well-being, fostering community, or providing education in settings such as schools and forest schools 6. Develop and cultivate a professional network with key individuals and organisations that practice these growing techniques |
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 themes with scope for individual students to focus on elements of their choice:
- How to record information than could affect growing food successfully, such as soil testing and using exiting vegetation as a proxy for the land’s status
- How to design a food production area
- How to build up organic matter in soil, including traditional composting, no-dig, and permaculture methods
- How to grow food using various methods, from raised beds to forest gardens
- How to obtain food, from foraging, perennial and annual food resources, to typical garden flowers
- How to plant particular crops, from annuals to perennials (including trees)
- How to care for particular crops and prune perennials (particularly trees)
- How to manage a productive area
- How to develop a harvest plan
- How to manage bee hives
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 75 | 75 | 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 | 60 | 30 x 2-hour sessions of supervised practical work in the garden |
| Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities | 15 | Fieldtrips |
| Guided independent study | 30 | Reading |
| Guided independent study | 45 | Preparation of gardening journal and project presentation |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly gardening journal | 250 words | 1-6 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gardening journal | 70 | 2,500 words | 1-6 | Written |
| Presentation | 30 | 10 minutes | 1-6 | Written |
| 0 | ||||
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gardening journal | Gardening journal (2,500 words) | 1-6 | August/September reassessment period |
| Presentation | 1,000 word write-up of presentation submitted to convenor | 1-6 | August/September reassessment 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.
Atieri, Miguel (2017) Agroecology in Action website which is a very useful resource including links section (accessed 14.06.2017). Also includes a link to pdf by the Scientific Society of Agroecology Agroecology: Key concepts, Principles and Practices (accessed 14.06.2017).
Crawford, M. (2010) Creating a forest garden: working with nature to grow edible crops. Green Books, Dartington.
Diacono, M. (2015) The new kitchen garden: how to grow some of what you eat no matter where you live.
Fukuoka, M. (1992) One straw revolution, 14th edn. Other India Press, India.
Hart, R. (1993) The forest garden, 3rd edn. The Institute of Social Innovations, London.
Hart, R. A. d. J. (2001) Forest gardening: Rediscovering nature and community in a post-industrial age, 3rd edn. Green Earth Books, Dartington.
Hathaway, M. (2015) Agroecology and permaculture: addressing key ecological problems by rethinking and redesigning agricultural systems. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 6, 239-250.
Kloppenburg, J. R. (2005). First the seed: The political economy of plant biotechnology. University of Wisconsin Press.
Mollison, B. & Holmgren, D. (1978) Permaculture one: a perennial agriculture for human settlements. Trasworld Publishers.
Russell Smith, J. (1929) Tree Crops A Permanent Agriculture. Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York.
Wong, J. (2012) James Wong's homegrown revolution: grow your own amazing edibles from saffron to sweet potatoes in any back garden. Weidenfield and Nicolson.
