SOC6004 - Independent Social Project

Objectives:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
Deliver a year-long group project that is underpinned by a key social aim, building project management, leadership, negotiation, and marketing skills.
Develop a range of transferable personal, practical and intellectual skills, directly relevant to working within society to improve the lives of your fellow citizens and apply these to a piece of work in order to demonstrate these skills (negotiated between student, supervisor and the organisation).
Critically apply academic scholarship to 'real world' social issues by mobilising theoretical arguments to support practical, sustained action.
Critically reflect upon their own position within their project and situate the project within wider local and global contexts.

Content:

This module is all about you putting your experience and knowledge into practice by undertaking a non-empirical piece of project work. You may work independently, in teams and across disciplines. It will be a requirement that you have negotiated access to a community/ organisation or workplace and that a minimum of 3 hours per week (or the equivalent) will be spent on this social project. Supervision will be provided relevant to the negotiated assessment.

Students will work in small groups to identify a local issue to address across the academic year. You will plan the development of a campaign, service, or product which you will work in partnership to deliver. Assessment of the project will be negotiated with the project supervisor. However, assessments will link to the overall degree of the student.

For example, a group of students who produce a poster campaign focusing upon student metal health. The assessments may be:

- An A1 poster with written exposition detailing the link between mental health and young people, with written reflective account of the project.

- A project report that examines qualitative and quantitative studies in to links between mental health and criminal behaviour in young people with written reflective account of the project.

- An extended essay that examines the third sectors role in providing mental health provision in the criminal justice system with written reflective account of the project.

- An extended essay that examines sociological theory in relation to mental wellbeing with written reflective account of the project.

Please Note: These assessments listed here are not intended to be prescriptive, but an example of how within a group members will each negotiate a different form of assessment to accompany the reflective written work. This example is purely a demonstration of how a group supervisor may advise members within the group. With a focus upon ensuring the overall assessment demonstrates the link between the student's undergraduate programme and the ISP project.

Learning and Teaching Information:

A group session will be held to prepare students for the placement. Group and individual supervision will take place throughout the project period.

Field Work
Hours: 130

Group Prep Session Semester 1
Hours: 6
Intended Group Size: 30

Group meeting Semester 2
Hours: 6
Intended Group Size: 30

Individual/Team supervision (one-to-one, e-mail. Telephone, face to face as appropriate)
Hours: 8

Guided independent study
Hours: 250

Further details relating to assessment
As this is a negotiated assessment module the marking criteria for each student will become part of the negotiation process. As this is a non-empirical project research the traditional academic ethics clearance will not be required. However, the independent social projects will need to be internally approved by the Academic Group research staff.

Assessment:

001 Negotiated Assessment 4,000-word equivalent Semesters 1 and 2 50%
002 Reflective Diary/Account 4,000 Words Semesters 1 and 2 50%

Fact File

Module Coordinator - Russell Woodfield
Level - 6
Credit Value - 40
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered -

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