Unit information: Supervised Independent Study in 2016/17

Unit name	Supervised Independent Study
Unit code	SPOLM4300
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52)
Unit director	Dr. Demi Patsios
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School for Policy Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

This unit will enable students to pursue a topic of interest and relevance to them with the support of individual supervision. This unit is only available to students registered for MSc/Diploma degrees in Policy Research and Social Work Research in the School for Policy Studies. Agreement will be on the proviso that the work done is not covered by content already available to the student in the taught part of the programme attended by the student. The student will undertake independent study in accordance with the published guidelines and produce a piece of work for assessment.

Aims:

This unit will enable participants to:

• Identify a suitable topic or issue in policy research that can be researched independently
• Structure patterns of study independently
• Conduct a small-scale supervised independent study

Produce a written assignment, presentation or other appropriate document as agreed with the supervisor and described in the proposal for independent study.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit students will have:

1. Developed their understanding of their chosen topic or issue in policy research or social work research.
2. Gained experience and some competency in conducting this exploration
3. Demonstrated their ability to articulate their findings and related ideas cogently and critically.

Teaching Information

Supervised Individual Study will normally be conducted independently with regular, negotiated, supervisory contact.

Assessment Information

The assessment tests all the learning outcomes on the unit. It will comprise a written assignment of 4,000 words or equivalent, which takes the form of a report or any other product or combination of products which demonstrate that the student has developed his or her ability to explore analytically an appropriate issue or area of policy research or social work research.

Reading and References

Key readings will be determined by the topic being investigated and are therefore not generic to the supervised individual study mode.