| CODE | SWP1262 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Scholarship Skills for Social Policy and Social Work | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 6 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Social Policy and Social Work | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit is intended to support students to develop strong academic reading, writing and debating skills, and to develop and work upon an individual learning plan. Students are introduced to the values of academic integrity and what they mean in practice. The unit consists of a series of workshops, each of which deals with important skills, including resilience; planning and structuring one’s work; seeking, choosing, reading and citing sources; summarising and paraphrasing; critical thinking, sound argument and debating skills; making best use of tables and charts; and making effective presentations. The unit is assessed through a logbook consisting of set exercises, and the preparation of an individual learning plan. Study-Unit Aims: This study-unit aims to introduce first year undergraduates to academic skills, with a view to strengthen their abilities to produce assignments and dissertations based on critical reading, sound argument, appropriate expression and good structure. The study-unit also introduces students to values of academic integrity and the skills they require to observe this, with particular reference to proper citation and referencing and an honest utilisation of sources. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Explain academic integrity and demonstrate, through set exercises, that they understand its requirements; - Define plagiarism and collusion and demonstrate, through set exercises, how these are to be avoided; - Demonstrate an understanding of task, content and limiting words in their interpretation of set questions; - Demonstrate understanding of the principles of effective reading, through set exercises on paraphrasing and summarising; - Demonstrate comprehension of the importance of good structure and flow, through class exercises; - Demonstrate understanding of the features of a good argument through set exercises; - Demonstrate competence in APA citation and referencing requirements, through set exercises; - Comprehend and practice the principles of rigorous and respectful debate, through class debating sessions; - Demonstrate the ability to critically appraise tables and charts through set exercises; - Demonstrate understanding of the principles of effective presentation design and delivery, through an end-of-unit presentation on which students will receive formative feedback; - Demonstrate a commitment to further one’s learning, through the preparation of an individual learning plan and following up on the actions in this plan in consultation with one’s academic advisor. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Through set exercises, to interpret and respond to assignment titles in a focused and effective manner; - Through set exercises, to structure paragraphs well, demonstrating good use of topic sentences and signposting; - Through class activity, to search for sources effectively and to build an annotated bibliography and literature matrix; - Through set exercises, to demonstrate appropriate use of academic style in respect of formality; precision; accuracy; objectivity; explicitness; hedging; respectful language & the avoidance of bias; - In their logbooks, to demonstrate skill in reflectivity, positioning and voice; - In their logbooks, to demonstrate competence in taking responsibility to identify and address one's learning gaps; - Through set exercises, to demonstrate competence in building sound arguments through clear presentation of claim, evidence and justification, engaging with and rebutting counterarguments; - Through guided debates in class, to debate effectively and respectfully; - Through set exercises, to develop and present effective tables and charts; - Through end-of-unit presentation, to demonstrate the ability to design and present one's work effectively. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Bailey, Stephen (2013). The essentials of academic writing for international students. UK: Routledge. - Wyrick, Jean (2013). Steps to writing well - International edition (9th ed.) US: Cengage. Supplementary Readings: - Oshima, Alice and Hogue, Ann (2007). Introduction to academic writing. - Thoreau, Mary (2006). Write on track : a guide to academic writing. - Peck, John and Coyle, Martin (2005). Write it right: a handbook for students. - Bailey, Stephen (2006). Academic writing: a handbook for international students. - McMillan, Kathleen and Weyers, Jonathan D.B. (2011). How to write essays & assignments. - Greetham, Bryan (2008). How to write better essays. - Feak, Christine B. and Swales, John M. (2009). Telling a research story: writing a literature review. - Seo, B. (2023). Good Arguments: How debate teaches us to listen and be heard. Penguin. - Adler, M.J. & van Doren, C. (1972). How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading. Touchstone. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Independent Study | |||||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Edel Cassar Andreana Dibben Edgar Galea Curmi Natalie A. Kenely Claudia Psaila Sue Vella Daniella Zerafa |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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