Module PHL2122 for 2022/3
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
PHL2122: Data, Experiments, and Society
This module descriptor refers to the 2022/3 academic year.
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the module’s precise content will vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following themes:
- The experimental landscape - why an epistemology of experiment? Why an ethics of experiment?
- Experimental data: why does it matter?
- Reliability of experimentation: how do we know when we have “good” data?
- Doing experiments with animals: Epistemic and ethical issues raised by animal research
- Doing experiments with people: The clinical trial and the problem of randomisation
- The question of consent in the digital age
- The ethics of A/B testing - unconstrained power for private corporations?
- AI and Big Data in science: Challenge or opportunity?
- Open Science and Open Data: open to whom?
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 activities | 22 | 11 x 2 hours per week comprising of lectures and seminars |
Guided independent study | 55 | 11x 5 hours reading and preparation for classes |
Guided independent study | 3 | Preparation for presentations |
Guided independent study | 70 | Independent research for written assignments |
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 |
---|---|---|---|
Presentation | 5 mins | 1,3,4,5 | 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Critical review of an experimental design | 35 | 1000 words | 1,2,4,5 | Written |
Essay | 65 | 2000 words | 1-6 | 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 |
---|---|---|---|
Critical review of an experimental design | Critical review of an experimental design (1000 words) | 1,2,4,5 | August/September reassessment period |
Essay | Essay (2000 words) | 1-6 | August/September reassessment period |