Module FOUD02I8: Advanced Scholarship in HE (STEM)

Department: Foundation Year (Durham)

FOUD02I8: Advanced Scholarship in HE (STEM)

Prerequisites

Corequisites

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• The CMT modules are designed to introduce students to foundational concepts, methods and theories within the student’s chosen discipline. The CMT modules provide a lens through which students engage with knowledge and knowledge creation in their chosen discipline; the Scholarship in Higher Education module provides the tool-kit for their engagement and communication of knowledge; and the Advanced Scholarship in Higher Education (STEM) module provides an iterative experience of bringing toolkit and lens together to provide students with the opportunity to actively engage in the process of knowledge generation and communication by completing a research project within the student’s chosen discipline.
• This module aims:
• to extend discipline specific knowledge and skills appropriate to the student’s progression pathway;
• to extend independent and reflective learning skills;
• to extend an understanding of different types of data and their uses (as appropriate to progression discipline);
• to extend effective academic communication skills and conventions (as appropriate to progression discipline);
• to extend an understanding of theories of learning and strategies for effective study (as appropriate to progression discipline)
• to provide students with a background in academic conventions and expectations in order to prepare them to join the community of practice of their chosen discipline;
• Skills and other attributes
• This module also supports the overall programme aims to enable students to have:
• acquired the ability to work confidently with a range of academic materials and sources (as appropriate to progression subject area);
• acquired the ability to work confidently with numerical data and basic statistics (as appropriate to progression subject area);
• gained various skills for undergraduate study, including the ability to extract and summarise meaning from text, to read rapidly and accurately, to write and present clear and precise arguments using appropriate evidence;
• acquired a level of self-efficacy in relation to workload management, basic academic autonomy and a learner identity as an effective university student;
• gained skills in using libraries, online databases and other reference resources;
• acquired the ability to engage confidently and with clarity in academic oral argument and respond appropriately to contributions made by fellow students.

Content

• As appropriate to progression discipline:
• Core discipline knowledge
• Core discipline skills
• Academic principles
• Academic communication
• Academic information sources and their use
• Critical and reflective thinking
• Academic research methods
• Academic writing styles

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the module students will have demonstrated:
• 1. Knowledge of a range of relevant subject concepts
• 2. Knowledge of a range of relevant research methods
• 3. Knowledge of a range of relevant vocabulary

• By the end of the module students will be able to:
• 1. Demonstrate the appropriate use of a range of relevant subject concepts in response to specific assessment tasks
• 2. Demonstrate the appropriate use of relevant research methods in response to specific assessment tasks
• 3. Demonstrate the appropriate use of a range of relevant vocabulary in response to specific assessment tasks

• By the end of the programme students will be able to:
• 1. Demonstrate critical thinking
• 2. Demonstrate effective communication using appropriate academic styles
• 3. Demonstrate appropriate use of number
• 4. Demonstrate the use of appropriate sources of evidence

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• This module will be delivered using seminars/tutorials on a weekly basis. Students will be taught research skills then challenged to apply them in their own sphere of research to specific tasks in order to achieve the module outcomes.
• Lectures and Seminars
• Lectures and seminars are used to provide guided access to Concepts, methods and theories. Most teaching is carried out in groups to allow for an interactive teaching/learning style which will encompass some lecture-style presentations by the teacher, teacher-led discussions and discussion in groups. These are supported by reference materials, such as introductory videos, module handbooks, handouts or notes posted on the VLE and are delivered by expert staff from within the DCAD team.
• Lectures and Seminars focus on developing Subject Specific Knowledge and Key Skills
• Workshops/Tutorials
• Workshops and Tutorials are used to orient learning, support individual student needs, and to consolidate learning. Tutorials focus on problem-based exercises in small groups or individually.
• Workshops and Tutorials enable students to consolidate their Subject Specific Knowledge and understanding by applying Subject Specific and Key Skills to problems.
• Individual Tutorials
• Individual tutorials focus on discussion and feedback between students and tutors on a one-to-one basis in a more informal environment.
• Individual Tutorials support all learning outcomes, enabling students to discuss, question and receive feedback on their progress, to enhance their own self-reflection, and to encourage them to take responsibility for their own study.
• Orientation Tasks and Self-Regulated learning
• Orientation tasks support students toward Self-Regulated learning and support students to develop Subject Specific Knowledge and Skills, and Key Skills. Self-regulated learning encourages students to reflect on their own learning; identify strengths and weaknesses; and structure some of their own future learning through self-diagnostic exercises and completion of an extended project.
• Orientation tasks and Self-guided learning support all learning outcomes, enabling students to consolidate and expand on Subject Specific Knowledge gained through other learning methods, and to develop Key Skills, which are applied in the production of formative and summative assignments.
• Assessments within this module are designed to support students' progress through a full research cycle. The Assignment requires students to locate their research within the body of knowledge, and to begin critically exploring their chosen topic(s) and method(s); the oral presentation develops key academic communication skills and helps students to further frame and refine their approaches to their research; the Project Report allows students to evidence the research skills and subject knowledge they have acquired; the Academic Poster develops key academic communication skills and helps the student to engage with their community of practice.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

A range of formative tasks are used to help students work towards module outcomes and to iteratively build competency towards each respective summative assessment.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University