Course Catalogue

1. To provide students with a stimulating, research informed, academic programme, including both core and optional modules, with clear progression through the degree, and with clear learning outcomes. 2. To provide a dynamic and contemporary programme which stimulates the sociological imagination and engages students with the history of the discipline, and its central theoretical, methodological and substantive aspects. 3. To provide an environment which facilitates and encourages student centred learning, that is inclusive and accessible to all students, and supports them as they begin to independently research the social world using appropriate quantitative and/or qualitative techniques. 4.To provide at level 4 core modules introducing theory and method and a range of areas of sociology including social policy, inequalities, and culture in local, national and global contexts; these themes can be explored further in core (theory and method) and themed optional modules at level 5, with level 6 being made up of further themed optional modules. Hence a pathway can be constructed by the student built around specific themes. 5. To provide graduates with the appropriate subject knowledge and attributes, together with a range of transferable skills, and the ability to take responsibility for their own learning, to pursue a career related to the subject area, in general employment, or further study. 6. To encourage students to engage with the development of employability skills, including their completion of a self-awareness statement. 7. To provide a programme that enables students to recognise their citizenship in local, national and global communities and societies, and to appreciate their role in addressing social conditions, resisting prejudice, and improving social justice for all utilising the theoretical insights and evidence based findings of sociology. 8. To appreciate the importance of ethical issues in all forms of sociological data collection, analysis and argumentation and the contested nature of social life, to develop a reflexive sociological understanding of world views alternative to their own. 9. To provide opportunities to sociologically investigate societies other than the UK and to facilitate exchange and study/field work educational visits to those countries to further understanding, analysis and knowledge. 10. Appreciate the distinctive character of Sociology in relation to other forms of understanding, such as its relation to other disciplines and to everyday explanations.

The programme incorporates staff-led and student-centred strategies with a progressive emphasis on the latter as students develop as independent learners. The former includes both formal and interactive lectures, and seminars, which provide opportunities to present ideas, discuss and reflect. The latter involve small group activities, tutorials, workshops and enquiry-based learning. These are designed to foster student progression, stimulate interest and encourage participation, provide equal opportunities to develop learning skills, encourage critical analysis and the application of theory, utilise ICT and Canvas. Criteria of attainment are given in handbooks and module assignments. Assessment across the programme is planned, and designed to be coherent, balanced and to facilitate the achievement of learning outcomes. Assessment meets the criteria (QAA and School) of validity, reliability and consistency. Assessment takes account of students with particular needs. The programme utilises a wide range of assessments including Essays, Exams, reports, portfolios, projects, self-reflective diaries, biography, leaflet, book reviews, enquiry-based learning, presentations (written and oral) and, at level 6, an optional dissertation, and opportunities for work placement. 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, whole workshops, seminars, tutorials and independent learning provides 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 Sociological 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 are introduced in 4106SOC: Introduction to Sociology, at level four. Thereafter, core and option modules at levels 5 and involve a combination of student-centred learning in both collective (seminars/workshops, group project work etc) and individual contexts (independent learning, tutorials, dissertations). Teaching is block time-tabled into 3 hour sessions. The variety of learning experiences and assessment tasks is designed to stimulate interest and encourage participation, and to provide opportunities for students with differing capabilities and aptitudes to develop transferable skills. The variety of assessment on the programme ensures that these transferable key skills are assessed at various points throughout the degree.

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 the 5117SOC Sociology at Work 1 Module and at Level 6 in the 6114SOC Sociology at Work 2 module- 20 credits each (proposal and placement / report). All LJMU undergraduate programs are required to incorporate into a L4 module an assessment item of the submission of a personal Self Awareness Statement. Students have the opportunity to choose from work-based/related/transferrable skills 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.