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Perspectives on Sources: Independent Study Project in the Humanities

Module description

This module is one of the most important in your second year of study. It represents a major step in developing your skills in academic research and writing and preparing you for your dissertation next year. . You will complete a project proposal and extended essay  reflecting your scholarly interests, the research strengths of staff, and the availability of research resources.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module is a guided independent study module, which aims to develop your skills in self-motivated study, primary source analysis, critcal enegament with theories and concepts, historiographical debates, and producing excellent written work . The choice of materials for the research need to reflect the disciplinary perspective or perspectives represented by your particular programme of study. You will be involved in scheduled teaching activities, including group work, designed to give you expert learning in primary source analyis and close reading of secondary texts.  For the project itself, you  will have one supervisor who will provide a total of two hours of contact across the duration of the module. The summative assessment comprises a project proposal and a source portfolio. The project proposal requires you to outline the significance of your topic and the importance of the primary and secondary source materials you have chosen to explore it. The long essay  is a detailed critical analysis of these materials in the context of historiographical debate

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Evaluate changes in the secondary literature and to identify significant scholarly debates
• 2. Identify and access a range of suitable primary sources
• 3. Reflect critically upon the learning experience

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Assess the work of scholars and handle different approaches in areas of controversy
• 5. Collate and critique data from a range of sources
• 6. Understand and deploy scholarly terminology in a comprehensible manner

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. Undertake independent study and work
• 8. Digest, select and organise varied primary and secondary material
• 9. Produce, to a deadline, a coherent and cogent argument and analysis, developed through the mode of assessment

Syllabus plan

Aside from the one-on-one supervision with the student’s supervisor, the module will also consist of three briefing sessions: one at the end of Term 3 of first year to get students started on the project;one in Term 1 before the submission of the Project Proposal and one more in Term 1 to consider ways forward for the major piece.) In addition, there will be four 1.5 hour hands-on workshops across terms 1 and 2 dealing with different types of published and unpublished primary source material relating to the Humanities led by a member of the Humanities Penryn team dependent on their particular research expertise.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

If you are referred or deferred, you will submit the two pieces of summative assessment as specified above.

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Basic reading: As appropriate to choice of research topic.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=11073

Key words search

history, literature, politics, geography, research, methodology, archives primary sources, secondary sources, historiographical debate