KE7003 - Subject Exploration in Disaster and Development

You will learn through a guided but largely independent learning process, supported by a number of seminars and workshops.
This module comprises of a journey that you will largely shape yourself through your specialised interests taken further and deeper here, and which then should have real employability and career relevance.
Directed reading, guided and independent study will be used to enable you to gain a more sophisticated awareness of your chosen specialised cutting edge study topic focus.

Tutorials and workshops will assist your contextualisation of the subject content and its applicability to your areas of enquiry, to assist the assimilation of knowledge from theory to practice and provide you with opportunity for discourse, debate, evaluation and synthesis of ideas.
You will be expected to reflect and communicate your findings, insights and reflections individually in an engaging way, and be supported to do so through formative feedback and assessment
Seminars and tutorials will provide you with guidance and informal formative assessment.
Resources will be made available through the ELP and through TEL for communities further afield.
You will also be supported through your peers on this module and will be encouraged to develop an active and participatory dialogue and reflection and sharing culture amongst fellow students to facilitate peer learning and informal structures of support.
Teaching staff operate an ‘open door’ policy for students meaning you can approach them anytime during normal office hours, or via email, to answer questions, receive feedback and support your learning on the module.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
• MLO 1: Appraise definitions and conceptions of the cutting edge aspect you place under investigation.
• MLO 2: Interpret the nature and context of the shifting epistemological foundations of the specialised issue explored.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
• MLO 3: Assess professional issues connected with and arising from your specialised topic under investigation.
• MLO 4: Evaluate organisational and institutional dimensions / issues connected with and arising from your specialised topic under investigation.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
• MLO 5: Situate your own positionality within mixed (culturally influenced) definitions and interpretations of processes of change and factors of influences and their consequences in the interests of civic and ethical behaviour in the public, commercial and voluntary sector.

There is one piece of individual assessment for this module:

An individual 3,000 word report – or in an equivalent professional format of the same length and effort.

Formative feedback will be used to enable you to develop your focus for the proposed area of investigation (1 page proposal in Wk2) and in 1-1 tutorial interaction with your tutor for your summative assessment. This feedback will also enable you to develop your academic and reflective skills.
You are encouraged to discuss and reflect upon the lessons learnt through this process.

Summative feedback will be both in written form on the one individual assessment for this module, and a debrief meeting also for forward learning from this.

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You will critically explore in depth a cutting edge aspect of disaster management and sustainable development of your choice, either theoretical in nature, or into an applied professional area, developing the contemporary but diverse climate change and environmental themes and sub themes introduced via earlier modules in this programme, their potential (or real) impacts, tactical and/or strategic responses, engagement and impact responsibilities as examples. Exploration topics may be diverse under these themes and could be as wide as being related to exploring the trend of professionalisation, enterprise and entrepreneurship in the field. You will be expected to undertake an individual critical exploration of your chosen topic calling on your individual academic curiosity and motivation. You will engage with real scenarios and case studies during the module through directed learning activities. You will work on your topic, agreed with the module tutor, with directed learning guidance and a high proportion of independent learning with tutor feedback. This could be a virtual or real research or advisory / consultancy project. You will reflect individually and benefit from peer learning. You will take your findings into a mode of communication to share this more widely, which ordinarily would be a report but an alternative mode of presentation can be negotiated with the module tutor if equivalent to the report in length and effort.