| Unit name | Communities, Education and Ways of Knowing |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ENGL20118 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Mr. Savage |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
none |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
none |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of English |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
The unit introduces students to cross-disciplinary perspectives and contestations around the ways that spaces of learning, knowledge and expertise are constructed, enacted and framed in contemporary society. These ways of thinking will inform students’ community-engaged practice, as well as offer frames of reference through which to reflect and critically engage with the methodologies of their own community-engaged project. Students will consider pedagogical, participatory and community-based techniques for group management, and engage with critical output on the dynamics of group exchange.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study
Community engagement units prepare and support students in the design, facilitation, theoretical underpinning, critical reflection and evaluation of community engaged learning. Community engaged learning describes opportunities for students to work in partnership with local communities and/or local community organisations to engage with real-world questions as part of their curriculum by applying theory to real-world contexts. Study in the classroom will support students’ parallel development of an individual, community-engaged project, while seminars will offer a space for dialogue between classroom-based pedagogy and community-engaged practice.
An overview of content
Students will be introduced to a range of perspectives from disciplines including education and sociology and will be supported to critically engage with these perspectives in relation to their own community-engaged project practice. This unit will support students to consider the nature of learning spaces, knowledge and expertise in relation to their own projects. To aid this, students will be introduced to a variety of facilitation and participatory techniques used when managing groups, drawn from sources such as participatory and community-based research and third sector and practitioner toolkits.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
On completion of this unit students will have had the opportunity to engage in cross disciplinary perspectives and contestations around the ways the spaces of learning, knowledge and expertise are constructed and gained an increased understanding of how these are enacted and framed in contemporary society. They will develop skills in facilitation and participatory techniques used when managing groups and gain knowledge and expertise in relation to their own community-engaged project.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
This unit is normally taught through a series of 3-hour seminars. Seminars use a range of teaching methods including lectures, group discussion, research and writing activities, and peer dialogue. Students are expected to attend all timetabled teaching, engage with the reading, and participate fully with the weekly tasks and topics. Learning will be further supported through the opportunity for individual consultation. Students will be offered the opportunity to build towards summative assessments through informal formative work and feedback.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
2500-word essay (70%) [ILOs 1-3].
Presentation (30%) [ILOs 1-3].
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the format or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are confirmed by the School/Centre shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. ENGL20118).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
