PO2PPY: Professional Placement Year

Module code: PO2PPY

Module provider: Politics; School of Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Credits: 120

Level: Level 2 (Intermediate)

When you'll be taught: Full year

Module convenor: Dr Kenton White, email: kenton.white@reading.ac.uk

Module co-convenor: Mrs Purnima Darji, email: p.darji@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

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

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: Maxi placement

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: No

Last updated: 23 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The aims are to: 

• provide the student with the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills gained in the first two years of their undergraduate studies 
• extend knowledge and learning in their chosen degree discipline 
• gain knowledge, understanding and skills of working in a relevant environment. 

Module learning outcomes

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

1. Demonstrate in-depth understanding of their placement organisation, structure and rules of governance and their own role within this structure.
2. Offer a detailed academic appreciation of the placement by relating the placement role to academic study and demonstrating in-depth understanding of the ways in which theory and practice are linked.
3. Present material and articulate arguments in both written and oral form.
4. Demonstrate the use of transferable skills from and to the placement
5. Develop a greater understanding of the requirements of the workplace through experience of full-time employment in a setting with relevance to their skills and knowledge in the field of Politics and International Relations. Through the placement students will build on their experience of team-based work. They will gain experience of planning, organisation, communication and research within the workplace. The experience will be relevant to future career development and employability.

Module content

The area of work undertaken on the placement will be related to the student's programme of study in the Department of Politics and International Relations. The day-to-day content of the work will be set by the student's employer. The work placement should provide the student with the opportunity for independent problem solving and working in a team. 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Students will receive guidance on placement planning and remain supported by the School Placement Coordinator throughout their year. However, the emphasis on this module is on independent working, including work experience, learning by observation, training and doing. 

Study hours

At least 0 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.

Reassessment

Additional costs