AD2AGP: Agriculture in Practice 2

Module code: AD2AGP

Module provider: School of Agriculture, Policy and Development

Credits: 20

Level: Level 2 (Intermediate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 2 / Summer / Semester 1 / Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Laurence Smith, email: l.g.smith@reading.ac.uk

Module co-convenor: Ms Rebecca Jerrome, email: r.m.jerrome@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s): This module is only available to BSc Agriculture, or BSc Agricultural Business Management students. (Open)

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: Micro placement

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: No

Last updated: 20 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The module aims to expose students to professional practice in agriculture industry and to give them an understanding of the range of career opportunities in the sector.  This module provides opportunities for students to develop ‘careers curiosity’ and gain a range of essential career planning skills.  You will also network with a range of employers in the agriculture sector to secure and complete either (a) a micro work-placement independently organised by the student and authorised by the University, or (b) conduct a series of informational interviews with potential employers to develop a deeper understanding of careers in development and the skills and experience required through evaluation of job roles 

This module includes a two-part, 3-day residential field trip aiming to expose you to a range of farming types, businesses, and systems, particularly those not common in the Reading area, to understand the commercial realities affecting the industry and to discuss current trends in farm practices across the UK. 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

1. Identify, assess, prioritise and effectively communicate their skills, interests, values, personality traits and experience in the context of careers and employability via a portfolio of evidence 
2. Reflect on their personal career planning journey including through critical reflection on the personal and professional learning gained from either an independently organised micro work-placement in the development sector or networking and securing informational interviews with relevant employers and evaluating a number of job roles. 
3. Understand the management, policies and organisations involved in the agriculture industry 
4. Compare a range of farming systems in relation to their strengths and weaknesses and discuss current trends in farm practice in a specific region of the UK. 

Module content

You will cover a series of careers-related content, developing skills to empower you to apply for relevant placements including career action planning, CV and covering letter writing and a range of placement application skills. The residential visits will encourage students to discuss the wider implications of agricultural trade within the European Economic Area and beyond and how this directly affects production within the UK.

In addition, the two residential visits will give you exposure to agricultural industries in geographic regions different to the Reading area. During this time students visit a range of farms, businesses, enterprises and organisations, examples of which are provided below:

• Hillfarms
• Large rural estate
• Intensive cereal farm
• Innovative stock or dairy farm
• Horticultural producer
• Diversified businesses
• Research farm

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Students will receive teaching in a ‘workshop block’ of teaching in Part 1 to provide an essential overview of career planning, tools and skills. This will be followed up with seminars/tutorials in early Part 2, to support students in searching for mini placements/informational interviews and developing reflective thinking and writing skills in support of the assessments. They will encourage effective self-evaluation and reflection during and after the placement. Drop-in sessions will be available for support. 

The farm visits usually consist of guided tours and in some cases video presentations or slide shows. The field trip is used to integrate theory with practice, teach concepts of farm management and to summarise material studied throughout Part 1 and Part 2. 

Students will undertake the first residential during their Part 1 and will also receive support for their placement search via lectures, seminars and tutorials in the summer term of Part 1.  The 2nd residential and the remainder of the teaching will be provided in Semester 1 and 2 of your Part 2. 

Study hours

At least 50 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

There are regular opportunities for discussion in class sessions and one-to-ones. In addition, students will work through examples of reflective writing in preparation for writing reflectively about their own placement experience. 

The feedback students receive on the first and second part of their portfolio submission will allow time for reflection and development and support future submissions. 

Reassessment

Additional costs