Course Catalogue

1. To provide, for all students, a defined academic programme with clear learning outcomes. 2. To develop students’ critical, analytical and evaluative skills, and transferable skills, to prepare them for graduate employment. 3. To encourage students to acquire a critical understanding of criminology topics which demonstrates an appreciation of criminological theory, evidence and the relevance to contemporary debates. 4. To encourage students to critically evaluate responses to deviance, crime, harm, victimisation, punishment and justice and representations of these at national, international and global levels. 5. To equip students with the necessary knowledge, understanding and skills to formulate and ethically investigate criminological questions using appropriate quantitative and/or qualitative methods. 6. To encourage students to make an academic and practical contribution to the discipline of Criminology. 7. To develop those learning, information technology, communication and reflective skills necessary to enable students to undertake independent study, and to participate in lifelong learning. 8. To develop new areas of teaching in Criminology in response to the advance of scholarship and the needs of the community. 9. To encourage students to engage with the development of employability skills, including the completion of a self awareness statement.

Teaching is delivered via lectures, workshops, tutorials, group work, supervision, online activities, study trips, independent learning and private study. All of these methods are complemented by staff and student use of and interaction within the virtual learning environment to support and facilitate student learning. Modes of assessment used in the programme are: essays, examinations (including multiple choice, unseen, seen and ‘take-home),portfolios (skills and reading),presentations (seminar, group),SPSS data-files, reports, poster presentations, case studies, article reviews, blogs, visual essays, Geographical Information Systems reports; research plans, research reports, dissertation proposition and dissertation. Intellectual skills are strongly linked to the development of knowledge and understanding. Lectures provide the foundations of and models for students to develop and consolidate their intellectual skills, while workshops, tutorials and independent learning provide opportunities for students to practice and apply these intellectual skills. The assessment of intellectual skills is closely linked with subject knowledge and assessment, however the focus is upon the student's ability to recognise, construct and defend arguments, to undertake critical analysis and to identify and resolve intellectual problems. A variety of written coursework and exam based assessments focus directly on the student's ability to construct rigorous arguments and analysis. While the more applied nature of some assessments (briefing papers, blogs, case studies, reports),particularly those requiring students to understand and undertake Criminological research encourages students to creatively develop their intellectual skills. All teaching and learning activities focus on developing and improving communication skills: lectures enable students to become effective listeners who can assimilate ideas and information; discussions in workshops and small group settings develop spoken communication skills, collaboration and interpersonal skills. Students are also encouraged and supported, via tutor guidance and the VLE, to undertake independent learning which, in turn, promotes planning. organisational and time-management skills. All assessment utilized on the programme encourages students to develop their communication skills and to present arguments and ideas with precision and clarity. Achievement of good time management and organizational skills is demonstrated by students completing work on time to a satisfactory standard. These skills and abilities are integrated into the teaching and learning activities and methods described above. They are central to every activity that is undertaken as part of study for the degree. The development of transferable skills is a core aim of the programme, with the study of criminology allowing students to apply their knowledge and aptitude in a variety of employability settings.

Personal development planning is integrated into the personal tutor arrangements at Levels 4, 5 and 6. Work related learning is embedded at Level 5 in 5201CRIM Criminology into Practice and at Level 6 6201CRIM: Dissertation Part 2; 6206CRIM: International Fieldwork in Criminology. All LJMU undergraduate programs are required to incorporate into a L4 module an assessment item of the submission of a Future Focus assessment. Students have the opportunity to choose from employability focussed modules at L5 and L6, while the programme’s PDP system provides opportunities for students to reflect on and document their achievements inside and outside of university and think about future employability paths.