BA Philosophy and Politics(For students entering from September 2024 onwards)

Year 1

(Award available for year: Certificate of Higher Educ)

Learning outcomes

Philosophy LOs
1. Demonstrate a basic understanding of the nature of philosophical thought and methodology, and apply the skills needed to critically evaluate and identify different forms of philosophical argument
2. Accurately explain ideas and debates within some of the main areas of the discipline, including epistemology and metaphysics, and ethics and political philosophy
3. Express your own views in the form of simple but coherent philosophical arguments
Politics LOs
4. Accurately describe basic concepts of Politics, and some of the main theoretical approaches to its study.
5. Accurately describe the key political systems, ideas, and entities, and how these shape the contemporary world.
6. Accurately explain some of the main debates in Political Theory and Comparative Politics.
7. Develop basic arguments and evaluations of the main debates within the study of Politics.

Skills Learning Outcomes
1. Express yourself orally and in written form in a clear, concise, focused and structured manner (Academic and Work Ready skill)
2. Use digital technologies to retrieve data and information (Academic and Work Ready skill)
3. Gather information from a range of sources, and produce basic interpretations or summaries of information and/or data (Academic and Work Ready skill)
4. Evaluate the arguments of others and construct simple arguments of your own (Academic and Work Ready skill)
5. Identify when, why and how to appropriately acknowledge someone else’s work and ideas (Academic and Work Ready skill)
6. Work independently, and on own initiative (Academic and Work Ready skill)
7. Learn proactively and adopt effective learning strategies (Academic and Work Ready skill)
8. Manage your time, prioritise tasks, organise academic and personal commitments effectively to meet deadlines (Academic and Work Ready Skill)
9. Be aware of your own strengths and development needs and seek/accept feedback (Academic and Work Ready skill)
10. Set and achieve goals (Work Ready skill)
11. Work with others in a collaborative manner (Academic and Work Ready Skill)

Assessment

Achievement will be assessed by a variety of methods in accordance with the learning outcomes of the modules specified for the year and enable students to demonstrate they have achieved the programme level learning outcomes through their optional and core modules. Assessments include essays, exams, text and data analysis, reports, learning logs, blogs, literature reviews, presentations, poster-presentations, and podcasts.
Core modules and any combination of optional modules will enable students to achieve all the learning outcomes.
Students will be provided with a range of unassessed formative exercises, allowing them to make progress with the LOs and skills outside an assessment context. Opportunities for explicit discussion and support will be made available by module leaders in office hours and in routine meetings with academic personal tutors.