Module overview
Working as part of a group of approximately 7, you will define, develop and bring to fruition a project rooted in an ancient history topic.
The Group Project provides an opportunity for you to carry out a piece of research on a topic relating to ancient history, as part of a group, reflecting on the issues involved in completing the task and presenting the research to a broader audience. The academic core of the project asks you to engage in a topic from conception to completion under the supervision of your group Academic Guidance Tutor who will assist you in the location and exploitation of relevant local and national source materials. This opportunity to develop your research skills will provide a good grounding for the longer and more advanced piece of individual research required by the Year 3 dissertation.
The Group Project will also enable you to develop various key skills relevant to the type of employment that you may encounter after graduation - management, media, teaching, etc - and to demonstrate such skills - team-working, interpersonal skills, self-confidence, presentation, problem-solving, etc - in a tangible way.
Finally, you will be encouraged to interact with a broader public through the process of communicating your research topic in a 'public outcome' and thereby to consider the nature and meaning of such a thing as 'public history'.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- the range of roles which you personally are more and less suited to within a team
- the generic issues, practical and theoretical, involved in teamworking and group problem-solving
- the area of historical investigation chosen by your team to explore
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- sustain focus on a project until it is fully realised
- negotiate goals and devise strategies for analysing and solving problems in order to achieve those goals
- work effectively and creatively as a member of a team, on a group task
- reflect on your own decision-making
- demonstrate a range of interpersonal skills needed to communicate constructively with other group members, including: reasoned argument, listening skills, diplomacy, self-confidence, self-awareness, clarity of thought and expression, and awareness of equal opportunities issues
- present a project effectively in written, visual and oral presentation form
- apply IT and numeracy skills necessary for the effective completion of the project
Subject Specific Practical Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- adjust your presentation to the level of comprehension, experience, and expertise within your target audience
- present historical material to a wider audience in a clear and coherent fashion, and by a variety of means
Cognitive Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- reflect carefully and systematically on the nature of your engagement in historical inquiry, and on your contribution to the group dynamics of the team within which you operated
- demonstrate research and analytical skills appropriate to the study of ancient history at an advanced level
Syllabus
Working as part of a group of 6-7, in the context of advice and guidance set down in the module handbook and offered by tutors, you will define, develop and bring to fruition a project rooted in an ancient history topic. Where appropriate, the project may be achieved in 'virtual' form. Co-operation with local museums and libraries (including the Hartley Library) will be encouraged so far as resources and contacts allow, but is not essential for the realisation of the project. Examples of kinds of project might be:
- planning and producing a short history of an individual or group of individuals from the ancient world
- researching a site or artefact from the ancient world
- link your research project to a commemorative event
- engaging with a specific text or group of texts to explore a particular research question
- developing a project which engages with a specific debate within ancient history
Your public outcome could include an exhibition, a website, a public talk, an educational pack, a radio show, or a newspaper article.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
The module will be led by a team of tutors within the department, under a co-ordinator with overall responsibility for the Group Project. Your project will have an assigned supervisor, and you will have access on a time-limited basis to the specialist expertise of the department's academic staff as a whole. The induction element will be led by the tutor team, and, in addition to an introduction to team-working skills and group dynamics, will cover equal opportunities issues arising out of group behaviour. Your group will be given guidance as to the choice and definition of your particular project, appropriate resources including advisory expertise within the Faculty and initial contacts and assessment methods by your project tutor. Individual support will be available on a time-limited basis from the project tutor. Within this support framework, you and your fellow group members will be expected to use your initiative in choosing a topic, conceiving an appropriate mode of presentation and developing it to fruition.
Type | Hours |
---|---|
Project supervision | 9 |
Lecture | 15 |
Preparation for scheduled sessions | 191 |
Completion of assessment task | 80 |
Total study time | 295 |
Assessment
Assessment strategy
The module is designed to foster your ability to develop your project through self-directed application, including time-tabling and task allocation. It will also enable you to develop specific skills required for the successful completion of the intensive Year 3 dissertation and the special subject: time-, self- and project management, and the ability to work with others in problem analysis and solving. Your ability to learn from the experience of your project will be assessed alongside the achievement of your group’s finished presentation.
Summative
Summative assessment description
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Public outcome | 25% |
Poster | 25% |
Project proposal | 10% |
Individual essay | 40% |
Referral
Referral assessment description
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Resubmit assessments | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal