This is the continuation of my previous post “My Experience at Sussex during Autumn Term”
I experienced the teaching, learning and assessment methods of three Courses- Cell & Molecular Biology, Essential Skills in Biomedical Science and Human Physiology. I got the opportunity to interact with the faculty of three subjects, viz. Economics, Sociology and Computer Science. Through interactions, I was permitted to access the study material of respective subject through an online learning environment of University of Sussex “Study Direct”. I accessed the course material of three courses in Sociology and one each in Economics and Computer Science. The courses were 1.Themes and Perspectives in Sociology I, 2. Globalisation, 3. Death of Socialism, 4. Introduction to Economics and 5. Introduction to Computer systems.
1. Themes and Perspectives in Sociology I: This course was for level 1 and spread over three terms, autumn, spring and summer. The autumn term course T & P I had 12 credits and focussed on the perspectives on capitalism and social order. There were ten lecture topics. The course was based on lectures (1hr.lecture/week), seminars (1hr.seminar/week) and reading. More stress was given on substantial amount of reading so that the students understand lectures better, participate actively in the seminars, and write essays better and consequently perform better in the examination. The course was assessed on a course report written by the tutor for individual student based on attendance, participation in seminars and submission of non-contributory essays not more than 2000 words in length in week 6 by the student. All students were warned and told to read the rules of “Plagiarism and Collusion”.
2. Globalisation: There were two courses on globalisation. The course in the autumn looked at concepts, history and perspectives on globalisation, cultural globalisation and global cities. This course was for level 3 and had 30 credits. It had one hour lecture and two hours seminar every week. Assessment of the course was entirely on essay to be submitted in the beginning of spring term. The length of essay is 6000 words.
3. Death of Socialism: This course was for level 3. It was taught by ten 2 hours weekly seminars and there were no lectures. There are two versions of this course, Polces and Sociology. The Polces course was of 24 credits and was assessed by one course work essay of 2000 words in the autumn and a 4000 word extended essay to be submitted in the summer term. The sociology version of the course was worth 30 credits and assessed by one coursework essay of 2000 words in the autumn and a 6000 word extended essay to be submitted in the summer term.
4. Introduction to Economics: This course was for level 1 and 12 credits, offered in the autumn term. Every week there were two lectures of one hour each and one hour seminar. This course provided an introduction to the fundamental principles of Economics. The first half of the course dealt with microeconomic issues, including the behaviour of individuals and firms, their interaction in markets and the role of government. The second half of the course was devoted to macroeconomics and examines the determinants of aggregate economic variables such as national income, inflation, and the balance of payments, and the relationships between them. This course also provided students with a basic introduction to mathematical economics and the topics covered include solving linear equation, differential calculus and discounting. The course was assessed on course report written by the tutor based on the performance of students in weekly online tests and participation in seminars.
5. Introduction to Computer systems: This course was for level 1 offered in the autumn term and had 12 credits. The course emphasised on the key elements of a computer. How information is stored: from transistors to files. How information is processed: from logic circuits to programs. How information is transferred: from buses to the internet. Computers and the physical world: peripheral devices and embedded computers. Operating systems and virtual machines. The history and the future of computing. This course was delivered through two lectures, a seminar and practical every week. The duration of lecture and seminar was one hour each and two hours for practical. It was assessed by course work (30%) and written examination (70%).
I contacted the course convenors of Environment Management and Sustainable Development, Human Computer Interaction and Introduction to Philosophy.
Please look for methods of teaching and learning in next blog.
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