Module overview
This module consists of 10 x 2 hour sessions covering 5 topics (two sessions per topic, one week apart). Click on the timetable link for timetables and details of topics covered. Prior to each topic, the relevant journal and supporting documentation will be uploaded onto the course materials section of the website. Each topic will be taught by an academic with a specialist interest in the subject area. The first session will consist of a 50 minute seminar. The content of the seminar will then be discussed by the group, including the lecturer, in order to clarify any points and to frame any questions arising from the lecture that the students find interesting.
A journal paper that extends or applies the knowledge in the seminar, will then be handed out to the students. You should read the methods section immediately, in order to ensure that you are familiar with the basic principles of the techniques and/or any confusing abbreviations used. Methodological queries will be discussed at the session. One or more students, depending on class numbers, will be designated to prepare an oral presentation of the paper for the following week. All the students will write a review of the paper stating the hypothesis and summarising the background, results and conclusion with comment on strengths, weaknesses and any new questions arising as a consequence of the paper.
The paper and background questions arising from the paper or the seminar will form the basis of the work in the following session, one week later. One student will make an oral presentation of the paper and all the students will be expected to join in a discussion of the paper during and after the presentation. Students who have looked up specific areas will discuss their findings as part of this general discussion of the paper after the oral presentation. The student(s) who give the presentation will not be assessed on their contribution to the discussion