Seminar Participation.

Worth 10%

You are expected to attend every seminar in this unit or participate in seminar discussions online – absences must be documented (for example, with a medical certificate). If you cannot attend in person then you must contribute to discussion online. Participation means not only doing all the readings beforehand but contributing to discussion with your fellow students during our meeting. Your grade is assessed on the basis of your generosity with your knowledge to other students and your willingness to ask relevant questions and to have a go at trying to answer others’ questions. Simply turning up registers no marks at all. External students or students on placement have to be especially active in this seminar-based subject. We have high expectations of all of you. You have to commit the same amount of time as internal students to your seminar participation. You are expected to post at least 250 words to the discussion forum every week, and to engage in a conversation with your fellow external students - re-post in reply to others as discussions progress.

Preliminary report on your PACE project

Worth 15% Due: 24.3.16

Word length: 500 words

Write a 500 word report on your PACE project

1.   A prospective title for your PACE project (it does not matter if the title changes as the project proceeds): titles are important, they signpost the argument or contents of a project.

2.   The research question that you have devised. Note that this must be a question, not a vague topic, because your eventual project will be marked according to the question you have designed.

3.   Discussion of how you will approach the project, explaining what sources you will use and why they are useful as well as what issues you will focus on and why these are significant. Include short answers to the following questions:

a) What is the context for my project?

b)   What is my topic about (include period & place but also specific historical field, such as ‘media history’, 'public history', 'migration' or ‘political history’)?

c)   What are my main sources (are they accessible and why are they useful)?

d)    Who are the major historians working in my field (and when did their work appear)?

e)   What other concepts will I need to understand in order to explore this topic properly (e.g. gender, race, national identity)

This assessment task is an important scaffold for the larger project. It assesses your ability to select a research area, refine a research question, and identify appropriate forms and sources of evidence for your research question.

Presentation

Worth: 10%

Due: Week 10

Duration: 5 minutes (strictly!)

Present a 5-minute presentation to your PACE peers about one key piece of evidence used in your research. This presentation will be posted on line via I learn. You will need to outline briefly the topic and then question of the Research Project. You will then need to introduce the piece of evidence and explain why it is significant. You should tell us how you came across it, what it reveals to you, what other sources it relates to or sheds light upon, as well as something about its limitations. You will be assessed on your ability to present clearly and engagingly, and your ability to edit content to the required timeframe. This assessment task is designed to assess your oral communication skills, and your ability to organise and deliver information in non-written formats. As you are all working on different subjects, this will be a wonderful opportunity to hear about everyone’s discoveries and special interests. You should use a presentation tool like PowerPoint, Keynote or Prezi to deliver your presentation. You will be expected to be able to answer audience questions afterwards.

PACE Project and Historiographic essay

Due: Week 12: 3.6.16

Word Length: Negotiable but the historiographic essay should be 2000 words long

The contents of your PACE project will be assessed. This will vary in word length depending upon the task/project involved. The PACE host and convenor will assess your PACE project work. You will also be assessed on a  2000 word historiographic essay on the question proposed in your PACE Proposal. The PACE Project and Historiographic Essay is the major assessment task in this unit. It must address an original research question. It should develop the means to answer the research question, using relevant primary and secondary sources. Conducting original research is central to the project. The seminars of the unit are intended to scaffold your development as a research historian, in conjunction with consultations with Modern History staff and the Capstone convenors. You will work with one member of staff in particular on your project, and you should aim to consult with them at least four times during the research and writing.

Remember that your PACE Project needs:

1.   a title

2.   an appropriate research question

3.   an answer to the research question via an analysis of primary sources within a context of wider secondary reading

4.   a complete bibliography, starting on a fresh page, styled in accordance with the Modern History Citation Guide

NB: When you submit the unit project, you must also complete and attach the self-assessment form, which will be available for download from the iLearn site.

Summative report

Worth: 15%

Due: 8.6.16 

Word length: 500 words 

Compose a 500 word summative report on your experiences as a PACE student.