A range of different teaching methods are employed to develop means for students to gain an understanding of the material and that opportunities for students to show their analytical and discursive skills exist. The methods used are:

• Three hours of Lectures per week

These will provide the basic information in each topic area and will form the foundation for further reading and analysis on an individual basis. Lecture notes and further materials will be provided on the WebCT virtual learning environment (see below).

• Tutorials and Essays

Tutorials are compulsory. Tutors will set at least three pieces of work to be assessed (including essays) over the Semester with additional tutorial work and/or exercises where necessary. Particular attention is paid to essays - tutors will guide students on style, content and analysis to ensure that the student's understanding is good. Exercises and further materials will be provided on the web. The onus is on students to provide the input in tutorials and more can be found on WebCT in the study skills section of the Pathway module which is available to all students in the University.

 

• Background Reading

While lectures will cover a great deal of material, it is essential that students read around and beyond the material presented there. This again ensures a solid basis is built up for the material covered in Years Two and Three and will normally provide a very good examination grade at the end of the module. Getting into the habit of doing background reading is vital and the earlier this can be achieved the better.

• Exams

There are two compulsory elements to the assessment for the module:

A 45 minute on-line assessment (30% of the assessment for the module)

A 90 minute unseen written examination to be held in January (70% of the assessment for the module)

 

Section 6 provides feedback on last year’s paper. A sample paper for the new structure of the exam will be given during the first three weeks.