New Modes and Sites for Learning

Code

EDUC3038

School

Education

Level

3

Credits

20

Semesters

Autumn UK

Summary

This module is focused on the nature of our learning lives and how they interact with the formal and informal places and spaces we inhabit as learners. It (re)visits theories such as experiential learning, place based education, story thread, making, as well as critiques of these and how they may be enacted in practice.   Sites and modes examined in the module include outside learning and learning in museums, galleries and performances.  Students will investigate how these are usually incorporated into the curriculum - through the excursion, homework and the field trip - and think about how this might be different and/or better.

During the module, students will have the opportunity to do some primary research in sites across the city of Nottingham, critically exploring how they are represented as places for learning.  This includes problematising ideas about cultural capital, access and equity which may shape the ways in which sites are used by teachers and learners.  Students will have the opportunity to draw on their learning from the module, and from their own experiences of formal and informal learning contexts, to explore the potential of new sites and modes in education.

Target Students

This is a module on the BA Education programme and is open to all Year 2 (Part I) or Year 3 (Part II) Undergraduate students or Exchange students.

Classes

This module is taught through a combination of seminars and lectures.

Assessment

• 40% Coursework 1: 1,800 - 2,000 words
• 60% Coursework 2: 2,000-2,500 words

Educational Aims

Learning Outcomes

A. Knowledge and understanding 
Students should demonstrate a critical understanding of: 
 

The underlying values, theories and concepts relevant to education and how these are evident in new sites and modes for learning, such as museums and galleries

The diversity of learners and how learning outside the traditional classroom is understood to support them

The societal and organisational structures and purposes of educational systems, and the possible implications for learners and the learning process. 

B. Intellectual Skills 
Students will be able to demonstrate the ability to: 
 

Accommodate new principles and understandings,  

recognising connections and discontinuities 

C.  Professional practical skills  
Students will be able to demonstrate that they can: 
 

Use research skills appropriate to the discipline of education: quantitative, qualitative and library based, written and oral communication, and textual analysis 

D.  Transferable (key) skills 
Students should be able to: 
 

Organise and articulate opinions and arguments in speech and writing using relevant specialist vocabulary 

Conveners

• Dr Kerryn Dixon