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Postgraduate Life in Practice I - ENG00016M

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  • Department: English and Related Literature
  • Module co-ordinator: Prof. Victoria Coulson
  • Credit value: 10 credits
  • Credit level: M
  • Academic year of delivery: 2022-23
    • See module specification for other years: 2021-22

Module summary

Postgraduate Life in Practice (1 & 2) provides skills training for MA students in English. It is designed to aid progression through your MA programme by teaching you the skills you need when they need them, and by asking you to submit assessed work that develops those skills. In the Autumn term teaching is primarily focused on MA-level research, with lectures and workshops on writing and research skills. In the Spring term the focus switches to dissertation preparation and to careers beyond the MA. In the Summer term you receive training in presenting and publishing your work. Assessment tasks focus on writing, reflection and presentation. You will receive feedback on these tasks but you will not receive an overall mark, thus preserving this training as a space for experimentation within the programme.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Autumn Term 2022-23 to Spring Term 2022-23

Module aims

The module aims to aid your progression through your MA programme by teaching you core skills in research, writing, reflection, presentation, publishing, and career development.

Module learning outcomes

Upon completion of this module you should:

  • Be familiar with the specific challenges and possibilities of writing at MA level
  • Have developed MA-level research skills, including digital skills
  • Have developed skills in critical reflection and oral presentation
  • Be familiar with possible career paths beyond the MA
  • Be ready to undertake a substantial dissertation project in your field

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
1500 word essay		 N/A 50
Essay/coursework
500 Word Dissertation Proposal		 N/A 50

Special assessment rules

Pass/fail

Additional assessment information

Both tasks have a formative deadline the week before submission, with verbal feedback offered by the programme leader and other students on the programme at a specially convened draft-swap workshop.

Minimum criteria for passing the tasks are as follows:

Essay: A student must submit at least 1,000 words dealing coherently with an identifiable topic.

Dissertation proposal: A student must submit at least 200 words identifying a topic and giving a rationale for its selection.

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
1500 word essay		 N/A 50
Essay/coursework
500 Word Dissertation Proposal		 N/A 50

Module feedback

A week before the essay deadline, students will receive verbal feedback on an early 500-word draft from their programme leader and other students on the programme at a specially convened draft-swap workshop. Written feedback on the essay itself is offered by the student's supervisor by the Monday of Week 9.

A week before the dissertation proposal deadline, students receive verbal feedback from their programme leader and other students on the programme at a specially convened draft-swap workshop. Further verbal feedback on the final proposal is offered by the student’s allocated dissertation supervisor as part of the Summer term supervision process.

Indicative reading

N/A - this is primarily a skills based module.


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.