Criminology BA (Hons)

Teaching

You are taught through a combination of interactive lectures, workshops and seminars. As part of your learning you will also be asked to attend areas of the criminal justice system such as the Court, to observe the sector in an operational setting. There is also some online learning activities and group activities where you will be provided with a structure of independent learning through which you will learn to organise and prioritise your research and design and develop your learning strategy. This will be supported through formative feedback and personal academic tutoring. Personal Academic Tutors are scheduled on at least 4 occasions in the first year and three occasions in each of the other years of a course.

You will also have an opportunity to apply to study at the University of Malta for a semester of the second year. This opportunity will offer you a chance to study with students from many different countries and experience modular learning from a different institution. It will expose you to a very different way of life, culture and practices that will enhance your personal and academic development and your future employability.

Contact time

In a typical week you will have around 14-16 contact hours of teaching. The precise contact hours will depend on the optional modules selected and in the final year you will normally have slightly less contact time in order to do more independent study.

Typically class contact time will be structured around:

• 4 hours lectures
• 6 hours interactive workshops
• 4-6 hours group activities
• 1-2 hours other activities (observations, online activities)

Independent self-study

In addition to the contact time, you are expected to undertake around 14 hours of personal self-study per week. Typically, this will involve researching, reading, planning and designing projects, completing formative and summative assignments, working with other students in group activities and meeting with your PAT or Supervisor, writers in residence or librarian.

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.

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' assessments which are graded and count towards the overall module grade.

Assessment methods include case studies, essays, exam (these are from other subject areas) presentations, videos, reports, posters and a final year independent study.

The precise assessment requirements for an individual student in an academic year will vary according to the mandatory and optional modules taken, but a typical formal summative assessment pattern for each year of the course is:

Year 1

• 2 x essays
• 2 x case studies
• 1 x presentation (group)
• 2 x reports
• 1 x Poster presentation

Year 2

• 1 x video and leaflet (group)
• 1 x research proposal
• 3 x essays
• 2 x case studies
• 2 x presentations

Year 3

• 1 x Independent Study
• 1 x essay
• 1 x case study
• 2 x presentations
• 1 x report

Feedback

You will receive feedback on practice assessments and on formal assessments undertaken by coursework. Feedback on examination performance is available upon request from the module leader.

Feedback is intended to support learning and you are encouraged to discuss it with personal academic tutors and module tutors as appropriate.

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

Programme specification

For comprehensive details on the aims and intended learning outcomes of the course, and the means by which these are achieved through learning, teaching and assessment, please download the latest programme specification document.