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Teaching

You are taught through a combination of intensive weeks, interactive workshops, lectures, seminars and laboratory practical’s, fieldwork, practical activities etc. Interactive workshops take a variety of formats and are intended to enable the application of learning through discussion and small group activities.  Seminars enable the discussion and development of understanding of topics covered in lectures, and laboratory practicals are focused on developing subject specific skills and applied individual and group project work.

Contact time

For intensive study weeks, students are expected to have 5 x 8 hours of contact time per intensive week (2 in total). In addition, full-time students are expected to study two modules per semester and have approximately 8 hours of ‘in-person’ contact time per week. Part-time students are expected to study one module per semester and have approximately 4 hours of ‘in-person’ contact time per week.

In addition, students attend two complete study days (16 hours) prior to their period of professional practice and are able to access 8 hours of tutorial support during the course of their Research Project study. Students will also receive two days of structured Research Project preparation.

Independent self study

In addition to the contact time, students are expected to undertake around 2 hours of personal self-study per module per week. Typically, this will involve online study tasks, reading journal articles and completing formative assignments. The Research Project requires substantial independent work and can be expected to require 600 hours of study. In addition students are required to undertake 100 hours of placement activities as part of their Professional Placement.

Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent learning facilities, including the Hive and library resources, the virtual learning environment, and extensive electronic learning resources. 

Duration

• 1 year full time
• Typically 2 years part time

Timetables

Timetables are normally available one month before registration. Please note that whilst we try to be as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week; and some classes can be scheduled in the evenings. Given the importance of planning ahead, indicative timings of intensive teaching blocks are normally available at time of application / interview.

Teaching staff

Students will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course and have experience of both research and applied practice and consultancy; the team includes a range of expert lecturers (details of which can be found on the course handbook and on the School web pages).

Assessment

The course provides opportunities to test understanding and learning informally through the completion of practice or ‘formative’ assignments. 

Each module has one or more formal or ‘summative’ assessments which are graded and count towards the overall module grade.  Assessment methods include a range of coursework assessments such as essays, reports, portfolios, performance, presentations and a final Research Project. The precise assessment requirements for an individual student in an academic year will vary according to the course selected.

Specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest programme specification document.