TACKLING SOCIAL ISSUES - 2023/4

Module Overview

The module creates opportunities for students to draw on their learning from the law, politics and sociology modules and apply them to social issues, enabling them to recognize the inter-play between the subjects. The module leader with consultation with the programme team will ensure topical social issues are raised and analysed from the political, sociological and legal perspectives. Learners will develop knowledge and understanding of how the policy landscape and other interventions may tackle social issues. They will also complete activities that help them to understand their own aptitudes and learning preferences.

Module provider

Sociology

Module Leader

SHANAHAN Mark (FABSS Admin)

Number of Credits: 45

ECTS Credits: 22.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 3

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Year long

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

N/A

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• Experiential learning


• Employability and professional development


• Team working


• Networking


• Innovation and creativity


• Interview techniques


• Social awareness


• Law/Politics/Sociology knowledge


• Self-reflection

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

For practitioner interview, resitting students will conduct a 1-1 interview with an agreed appropriate practitioner or academic and provide a synopsis for course tutors; for Group policy proposal, students will complete an individual policy proposal and undertake necessary research as part of this. process. 

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of what it takes to become a social policy maker/evaluator/practitioner, addressing social issues with a critical mindset, and how to identify personal strengths and weaknesses whilst reflecting on personal learning and experiences.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

 

• Group practitioner interview video and presentation (semester 1)

 

• Articulating a social issue and developing a policy proposal in a group (semester 2, developed across both semester)

 

• Group poster presentation of a longer text the students have read (semester 2)

Formative assessment and Feedback

Students will receive an extensive amount of verbal formative feedback across the year when completing their summative assessments of interviewing a practitioner (semester 1), articulating a social issue, and developing a policy proposal their businesses (semester 1 and 2). Student groups will be closely mentored and guided into making decisions which best represent themselves and the University as they engage with external parties.

Additionally, the students will conduct forms of self-evaluation and self-assessment. This will take the form of numeracy and literacy ‘assessment centre tests’ where feedback will be provided to guide on areas for improvement. Students will also complete the ‘Belbin Team Roles’ test to discover behavioural strengths and weaknesses in the workplace and the ‘Myers Briggs Type Indicator’ (MBTI) test to provide an insight into personality type and behavioural tendencies. These formative assessments will enable students to learn more about how and when they work best – identifying core strengths and weaknesses.

Students will also produce 6 reflective statements, following a pro forma, where they reflect on their personal learning and experiences in both lectures and seminars. These journals, as well as a 750-word overview will encapsulate personal development and learning across the entire module. Feedback will be provided throughout the module to ensure students are reflecting critically and analytically as opposed to describing the situation. The ‘Gibbs Reflective cycle’ will be introduced and feedback will be provided on a trial reflection.

Module aims

• Develop knowledge and experience of team working, networking and independent research skills
• Build awareness of the characteristics of successful professionals in public and private sectors who directly deals with social issues and apply these characteristics through experiential learning
• Empower students to build an empathetic mind set, social awareness and capacity of intelligence-based decision making
• Build confidence to approach social challenges and devise creative solutions to overcome them
• Enhance employability through a developing awareness of the workplace and associated skills
• Numeracy and literacy skills will be targeted and developed through assessment centre related activities
• Develop self-assessment and reflection skills

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The teaching and learning strategy is designed to expose students to a range of social issues and how to evaluate the policy landscape addressing the social issues. This will empower students to build a critical mind set and develop social awareness. From this, students will be supported and encouraged to prepare appropriate responses to social issues throughout the module and be given the opportunity to put these into action towards the assessments.

Students will be mentored but given the freedom to explore avenues and interests they wish to pursue (Semester 1: prepare a critical response to an issue-rich text and Semester 2: articulate a social issue and develop, with fellow students, a policy proposal of their choice linked to a key practitioner interview). This freedom will allow students to flourish on a critical mindset level whilst instilling them with the confidence to become independent learners.

The learning and teaching methods include:

In semester 1, the teaching and learning methods will include a mixture of lectures and guest lectures (1 hour per week), seminars/tutorials (2 hours per week) and an experiential visit linked to one of the key themes of study. The lectures will introduce theories and methods of critical thinking, the characteristics of a social practitioner, policy landscape, professional skillset etc. Guest lectures will provide the students with insights from social practitioners and public figures – each with a different and unique story to tell. We will open the module with a session on team building activities, creative thinking, and problem solving – whilst introducing them to the module as a whole.

In semester 2, the teaching and learning methods will include collaborative seminars/workshops ( a mix of 1 and 2 hours per week) and Policy Proposal mini conference. The seminars and workshops will be in collaborative spaces and allow the students the chance to work in their groups develop their policy proposal and linked practitioner interviews. In these seminars and workshops, students will be mentored, guided and supported in the articulation of social issue and development of relevant policy and given the freedom to be critical with their ideas. The Mini Conference will be in week 9/10 of semester 2 and will be a chance for the students to advocate their policy idea to wider Surrey community in an event set up by the teaching team on campus.

Across both semesters we will run a series of five in-class tests to spot-check knowledge and recognise engagement with the key topics covered in the module. 

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: SOC0002

Other information

N/A

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2023/4 academic year.