Programme Delivery
We will offer a flexible curriculum delivery based on changing government and university guidelines and in consultation with students to ensure a safe, quality experience for all of our students.
Teaching
We will continue to employ a dialogical approach in our teaching which values students/senior professionals’ existing knowledge and facilitates synthesising this knowledge with cutting edge research and research skills.
During the first two years of the Applied Research Training (ART) programme students will be engaged in a series of weekend study schools as well as an annual summer school which incorporate lectures, seminars and group workshops involving tutor and student led activities. Students will engage in set pre-reading/independent study for each of the study schools and other forms of preparation including the development of presentations, written papers and carrying out research tasks.
Delivery
Teaching on the ART programme will primarily be delivered online, with Zoom as our principle platform for course delivery, video conferencing and interaction as we have found it to provide functionalities that enable us to engage with students successfully. This includes features and functions such as shared screen, chat facility, and break out rooms, allowing us to incorporate live face-to-face online sessions/seminar workshops; live question and answer/debate/discussions online in groups and with teaching staff; directed online tasks and activities to facilitate interaction between individuals and groups.
Support
Each student starting at the same point will become a member of a discrete cohort to foster a sense of group identity and create opportunities for peer assisted and collaborative studying.
Students will receive (and may request) individual tutorials and supervision on a regular basis throughout each year.
As part of the PGR community students will be invited to attend regular drop-in sessions and encouraged to participate and engage in research workshops and seminar series offered by the department, college and wider university.
Should students be faced with complex and/or challenging circumstances we will exercise discretion in line with relevant university guidance, advice, protocols and procedures.
Overall, the balance between lectures, seminar workshops and self-learning/support offered will be consistent with previous years, and there are no changes to teaching hours.
Progression
Students will be expected to engage with relevant aspects of the ART programme (e.g. two study blocks) which includes a mid-year presentation and submission of an end of year 10,000 words written paper; virtual rather than physical space will be used for student presentations if necessary.
Year 3 and Year 4
We will offer four Saturday schools spread across the academic year for those students (from January 2021 this will include year 5) who are at the thesis writing stage.