Graduate Diploma in Pre-Masters Studies

Teaching

You are taught through a combination of face-to-face lectures and other classroom-based activities delivered and supported in small groups. Workshops are interactive and provide opportunities for students to relate theory to practice in a supportive learning environment. Through the small group teaching model all students will have the opportunity to contribute in class.

In addition to the tutor-led activities, students will undertake directed learning in the form of short focussed and meaningful homework tasks from tutorials. The homework will be shared and discussed in the tutorial time ensuring all students receive formative feedback in advance of undertaking a major assignment.

Directed learning is also supported by additional resources such as pre-recorded lectures, videos and selected readings.

Students are responsible for their own learning and are expected to engage in independent learning in addition to directed learning and preparation for assessment. This involves reading and research to further develop the material encountered in class. Independent study encourages skills such as critical thinking in selecting material to support learning, time management and prioritisation.

Contact time

Each module will have a weekly session of two hours where students will be provided with authentic opportunities to evaluate and apply their knowledge, skills and competencies through a variety of classroom activities. In a typical week you will have around 8 contact hours of teaching for 12 weeks each semester. Typically, class contact time will be structured around:

• Lectures
• Tutorials
• Interactive workshops
• Seminars
• Group activities

Independent self-study

In addition to the contact time, students are responsible for their own learning and are expected to undertake around 24 hours of in independent learning per week in addition to directed learning and preparation for assessment.

This involves reading and research to further develop the material encountered in class. Independent study encourages skills such as critical thinking in selecting material to support learning, time management and prioritisation.

Typically, this will involve reading, researching, preparing for group work, rehearsing presentations, preparing for assessments and exams.

Independent learning is supported by a range of excellent learning facilities, including the Hive and library resources, the virtual learning environment, and extensive electronic learning resources.

Duration

• 1 year full-time

Timetables

Timetables are normally available one month before registration.

Please note that whilst we try to be as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week; and some classes can be scheduled in the evenings.

Teaching staff

You will be taught by a teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. The team includes senior academics, professional practitioners with industry experience, demonstrators and technical officers.

Teaching is informed by research and consultancy, and all lecturers on the course have or are working towards a higher education teaching qualification or are Fellows of the Higher Education Academy.

Assessment

The course provides opportunities to test understanding and learning informally through the completion of practice or ‘formative’ assignments. Each module has one or more formal or ‘summative’ assessment which is graded and counts towards the overall module grade.

A typical formal summative assessment pattern, for a full-time student is:

Semester 1

• 1 Diagnostic test
• 3 Group presentations
• 1 Exam
• 1 in class quiz
• 2 Individual project
• 1 Portfolio/journal

Semester 2

• 2 Individual essays/report
• 1 Exam
• 2 Portfolio/journal
• 2 Group presentation
• 1 Individual project

All assignments will be internally marked and moderated as well as being externally examined as per the University of Worcester assessment policy.

Feedback

You will receive feedback on practice assessments and on formal assessments Feedback is intended to support learning and you are encouraged to discuss it with personal academic tutors and module tutors as appropriate.

We will provide you with feedback on formal course work assessments within 20 working days of hand-in.