Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POC3048: US Field Course

This module descriptor refers to the 2017/8 academic year.

Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.

How this Module is Assessed

In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.

Formative Assessment

A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Photography Competition: Documenting Life in New York	To be held at the end of the trip	6,7	Verbal feedback from module convenor and other members of the class.
Ethnographic Field Notebook	500 words of reflection per day	1-3, 4, 6, 7, 8-10	Written feedback

Summative Assessment

A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Consultancy Report	40	3,000 word report directed at an organisation of your choice, with operations in the US. Your report will evaluate the impact of an aspect of US politics on the organisation that you choose. For 2016, the topic will be the US Presidential elections.	1-10	Written feedback
Portfolio	50	Including the following: -a selfie (with a sentence explaining the theoretical points recalled) next to a place of symbolic significance; -a 1000 word reflective record of 5 conversations that members of your study have held with members of the public about life in America, American politics through academic theories of your choice; -5 newspaper cuttings with a paragraph explaining theoretical significance; -3000 word essay discussing identity, memory and politics in contemporary United States;	1-10	Written feedback
Group presentations to be held at the end of the field trip in New York	10	15 minutes per group	4, 5, 7-10	Written feedback
	0
	0
	0

Re-assessment

Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Consultancy Report	Consultancy Report	1-10	August/September assessment
Portfolio	Portfolio	1-10	August/September assessment
Presentation	15 minute viva	4, 5, 7-10	August/September assessment

Re-assessment notes

Re-assessment of the report will require the completion of a new report based on knowledge of the same topics, but a different question will be given. Reassessment of the presentation will take the form of a viva.