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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2022/2023

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Geosciences : Postgraduate Courses (School of GeoSciences)

Postgraduate Course: Student-Led Individually Created Course (SLICC) - Level 11 (PGGE11270)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Geosciences CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)
Course typeStudent-Led Individually Created Course AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course forms part of the Student-Led Individually Created Course (SLICC) university-wide framework for self-designed experiential learning. The student selects a project that meets the pedagogical aims set out in the LO's of the SLICCs, while sitting within the subject area of the MSc programme and aligning with the programmatic LOs. The student develops an e-portfolio to provide evidence of their learning. Undertaking a SLICC enables the student to create a learning experience which is unique to them. This level 11 course requires students to demonstrate the development of their skills and understanding in terms of critical analysis, application, reflection, recognising and developing skills and mindsets, and evaluation within a defined context of their learning experience. This course will also enable students to demonstrate their ability to exercise autonomy and initiative at a professional level in their domain of studies.

Course description A SLICC requires the student to propose, develop and manage a unique learning experience that will enable them to evidence how they have achieved the learning outcomes of the course. The self-designed learning experience is required to adhere to a defined structure that supports and enables the student to self-direct and manage their own learning experience. Within this structure however, there is flexibility regarding the topic or theme, content of study and nature of the students' experience, provided the proposal is: a) academically feasible given the available resources; b) consistent with the MSc programme LO's; c) approved by the SLICC tutor. A SLICC, for example, may be based upon a particular extra-curricular learning opportunity such as an internship, work experience, pro-bono activity, community engagement or volunteering, and may also focus on a theme of personal and /or professional interest such as sustainability, social responsibility, equality and cultural diversity, or a disciplinary or interdisciplinary-based research theme. The steps in undertaking a SLICC are as follows:1) The student identifies a suitable opportunity within which to undertake the learning experience, and attends a SLICC workshop; 2) The student writes the draft proposal and submits it to the tutor/advisor for approval; 3) The student self-directs and manages their own learning experience; 4) The student actively and regularly reflects upon and documents their own experience with evidence and uses that as a basis for writing their 'Interim Reflective Report', then their 'Final Reflective Report'; 5) The student undertakes a formative self-assessment of their work and submits their own 'Final Reflective Report' for summative assessment by their tutor. The steps identified above each require a significant amount of thought and input and will ultimately form part of a 'time-based' e-portfolio of evidence which will be used in the assessment of the SLICC. The portfolio of output must furnish evidence of learning and should demonstrate how the student met the learning outcomes for the course.

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2022/23, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 196 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) A SLICC is assessed via three key components, a self-reflective report, an agreed portfolio of outputs and a formative self-assessment.

Self-critical Final Reflective Report (100% weighting) - The reflective report is the key component of the assessment. The student is expected to document and demonstrate active self-critical reflection and responses to their learning throughout the experience. It is essential that the student's report is linked to, and draws upon, their e-portfolio of evidence of learning. Maximum word limit is 3000 words.

E-portfolio of evidence - At the proposal approval stage for the SLICC, the tutor will discuss and agree with the student what outputs and information need to be created, collated and submitted in their portfolio. This e-portfolio will support and provide evidence of the student's learning and development of skills through undertaking the SLICC. The portfolio should be constructed throughout the duration of the learning experience, demonstrating evolution, iteration and progress over-time. It must include a regular reflective blog diary. It may contain other evidence, which may take many forms including photographs, documents, reports, feedback, video, podcasts, etc.

Formative Self-Assessment - An important component of the final submission is for the student to demonstrate their understanding of their achievements through graded self-assessment. In undertaking self-assessment, students are required to demonstrate the alignment of the grades that they give for each learning outcome to the justification for them, and where this is evidenced within their e-portfolio.
Feedback Students will be given detailed formative feedback at: (a) the stage of reflecting on what the student wishes to do and achieve during their project, whilst defining their own learning outcomes in the ¿Proposal¿ ¿ setting these effectively at the start is a key element to the SLICC; (b) on the ¿Interim Reflective Report¿. This permits the student to reflect and act on this feedback before submission of the ¿Final Reflective Report¿, but will also be at a time to gain deep insight into, and beneficially influence, the progress of the project. The ¿Interim Reflective Report¿ is in the same format as the ¿Final Reflective Report¿, so formative feedback is directly aligned with the final summative assessment. The student will receive summative feedback on their ¿Final Reflective Report¿.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Analysis: The student is able to demonstrate how they have actively developed their critical understanding of the complexities, challenges and wider implications of the specialist context of their SLICC
  2. Recognising the complexity and/or uncertainty of the setting of their SLICC, the student is able to draw on and apply relevant skills and attributes (academic, professional and/or personal) in order to engage effectively and critically with their SLICC, identify where they need to improve these and/or develop new ones
  3. The student is able to demonstrate how they have used experiences during their SLICC to critically develop their specialist skills in the focussed area of¿ [Student selects two from the four skills groups contained in the University¿s Graduate Attributes Framework: http://www.ed.ac.uk/employability/graduate-attributes] : (a) research and enquiry; (b) personal and intellectual autonomy; (c) communication; (d) personal effectiveness
  4. Recognising the complexity and/or uncertainty of the context of the SLICC, the student is able to demonstrate how they have used experiences during their SLICC to develop mindset towards¿ [Student selects one from the three mindsets contained in the University¿s Graduate Attributes Framework: http://www.ed.ac.uk/employability/graduate-attributes]: (a) enquiry and lifelong learning; (b) aspiration and personal development; (c) outlook and engagement
  5. Recognising the complexity and/or uncertainty of the setting of the SLICC, the student is able to evaluate and critically reflect upon their approach, learning, and evolution of their judgement throughout their SLICC
Reading List
Learning resources are provided online. These resources include guidance to students on: reflective learning and reflective models; generating their own specific focused learning outcomes from the generic learning outcomes; collecting and curating evidence of their learning using an e-portfolio; writing reflective reports on their learning; using the PebblePad workbook, reflective blog and webfolio
Bassot, B. The Reflective Journal, Palgrave. 2nd Ed.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Undertaking a SLICC will enable each student to develop their abilities in self-critical reflection, organisation and time-management, self-assessment, evaluation of standards and competencies achieved, application of prior learning in a defined context, and provide opportunities to further develop analytical and presentation skills. The SLICC learning outcomes are derived from and embedded in the institutional Graduate Attributes. The learning outcomes are flexible to provide students with autonomy. With guidance from an assigned academic tutor, this flexibility of choice enables the student, in the context of their own chosen experience, to focus on their own particular skills and mindset. Students can select the specific attributes that they consider are the most important to reflect upon, taking into account their current and future professional and personal aims and career aspirations.
KeywordsExperiential learning,reflexive learning,e-portfolio,graduate attributes,SLICC
Contacts
Course organiserDr Simon Shackley
Tel: (0131 6)50 7862
Email:
Course secretaryMs Heather Penman
Tel: (0131 6)50
Email:
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