Social Science SALTs 2012/13 Project Report

Social Science 2012/13

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Social Science SALTs 2012/13

Project Report


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Social Science Salts 2012/13: (Names and Departments)

Department SALT

Geography Sian Parkinson (Lead)

Journalism Yasmine Gleghorn

Economics Emily McDool

Politics Alexander Fenton

Sociology Lucie Hartland

Law Philip Wells

Landscape Architecture Mo Fei

Architecture Lakshmi Priya Rajendran

Management Cindy Setiadi

Information Sciences Jake Young

Planning Emily Chapman

Education Maya Lad

East Asian Studies Ru Trow


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Social Science Salt Task 2012/13:


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Consideration of findings from Social Science SALTS 2011/12:

Themes explored at the SALTs Symposium held on 9/05/12 which posed the questions:

Does the diversity of departments within the Faculty prevent it from being a

cohesive faculty?

And looked at employability with reference to social sciences students

Conclusions - diversity a strength, but a need to establish some common ground,

and build the Faculty ‘community of learning’ ;

Employability - clearer signposting is needed, both to possible career paths and a

definition the skills, attributes and ethos of a Social Sciences graduate.


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Original Ideas

During our first meeting during the training days in June we came up with various ideas about what

we wanted to achieve during our year as SALTS. Our aims and objectives included:

Broaden our knowledge of various forms of teaching within the faculty of social sciences

Be able to list the key skills gained and developed when studying a social science degree

Gain a greater awareness of the wide range of employment opportunities available to social

science graduates and establish a skills set which employers seek in social science graduates.


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Addressing Our Aims

Aim 1: Broaden our knowledge of various forms of teaching within the faculty of social sciences

To broaden our knowledge of teaching styles within the faculty – we decided to swap lectures with a

small group of people to discuss the similarities and differences between social science subjects. We

tried to vary the groups so that similar disciplines were not grouped together. For example East

Asian studies was paired with Education and Sociological Studies. Each grouping filled in a generic

form the subject lectures they visited and each group came together to give their views, likes,

dislikes, similarities and differences and improvements for the subjects they visited.

Findings:

Firstly, we found that we used a range of teaching styles including the use of presentations, guest

speakers, interactive sessions, seminars and workshops, depending on the modules chosen.

Assessments also varied throughout the disciplines in the social sciences, these ranged from purely

coursework based modules to purely exam based modules.

We thought this was something that was unique to the social sciences as we have such a variety of

subject disciplines that we could learn from each other in relation to teaching styles to enhance our

learning experience.

We found that some subjects encouraged or had compulsory placement or year abroad/out of study

options. Those disciplines that did incorporate this found it extremely beneficial and is something

that subjects that didn’t include it thought could be useful within their subject. For example

Sociological Studies thought that a database like the one used by Journalism’s (with useful contacts

and placement opportunities) would be extremely useful.

The size of lectures/seminars or workshops varied widely depending on discipline. It was noted that

some courses are much smaller than others and that there was a blur between what was classed as

a lecture or a seminar across courses as the sizes were so varied. An education lecture had 30

students whereas an economics lecture could have 100! However, we did not feel this affected our

learning experience. We felt it would be nice to have a relationship with teachers and lecturers and

be known by name but having large course numbers means there is wider opportunity for group

work, getting to know a range of people from different backgrounds and more people to form study

groups with.

Finally, we found that, there is a strong link with the social sciences and group work. Almost all

modules include some group work which we felt would be a feature of the social science faculty.

These findings led us to the conclusion that we needed to incorporate a generic skills set for a social

scientist to unite us. Even though each subject discipline and the faculty hold documents on the skills

gained, we wanted a student perspective on skills.


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Aim 2: Be able to list the key skills gained and developed when studying a social science degree

We came together to discuss all our findings from the lecture swaps and came up with these skills

that we felt all social science students gained:

Application to the real world

Creativity

Team work

Critical thinking

Personal entrepreneurship

Communication – both written and verbal

Professional social skills

Data handling and production

Advanced research skills

Self focus and independent learners

Interdisciplinary focus

Logical All of these skills we felt a social science student at the University of Sheffield will gain during their

time at university. Some subjects would excel at some of the skills more than others, but overall all

students from all disciplines would be able to show these skills. Once we had defined our 12 generic

social science skills we each highlighted how our subject and how others from the lecture swaps felt

about some of these skills and how each subject developed these skills. Some example quotes from

the document in relation to interdisciplinary are:

“Core geography modules encompass economics, history, urban planning, sociology, philosophy,

psychology, Math's and aspects of journalism and media studies.”

“Politics modules can overlap with topics from economics, sociology, philosophy, psychology and

history.”

These findings were written up in two excel spreadsheets.

The first provides the overall skills set of the social science faculty (see appendix 1.1).

The second spreadsheet provides evidence of the learning and teaching methods from each of the

13 departments across the social science faculty relevant to each skill (see appendix 1.2).

As discussed below, we displayed these findings visually on a poster (see appendix 1.3).


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Aim 3: Gain a greater awareness of the wide range of employment opportunities available to

social science graduates and establish a skills set which employers seek in social science graduates.

Alongside the collection of data around skills and teaching styles we also wanted to look into

employment opportunities that social science students were open to. In order to do this we

decided to meet with our designated social science career advisors, Alison Clay and Marcus

Zientek.

They gave us lots of advice on how to arrange a social science employment, the best ways of

organising, the best people to talk to and how to get things moving as soon as possible. They

also recommended that we went to careers fairs to promote ourselves as SALT’s to local

companies that might be interested in coming to our event, perhaps doing a talk or a workshop

and promoting themselves to social science students and why social science graduates are

useful to them!

We visited the business and finance fairs and spoke to quite a few employers about how they

felt about social science graduates. Everyone we spoke to was keen to help and we left our

details to contact them further.


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First Term Tasks:

Agree on aims of the project:

o Investigate commonalities in learning and teaching methods across the

faculty and the skills that social science students gained as a result.

o Considering issues around perceptions of employability, highlight the key

skills set gained by a social science graduate at Sheffield University.

o Consider others’ perceptions of a social science student identity

Each SALT observed teaching from three other social science departments and

made comparisons of teaching styles between the departments and with their own

department

From this observations we highlighted the common skills that social science

students develop through their degrees

The Social Science Skill Set was written up in an excel spreadsheet.

In this each SALT wrote one or two sentences providing evidence of the learning

and teaching methods in their departments that developed these skills.


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Mid-year evaluation and review of tasks so far (December 2012)

Aim 1: Successfully visited departments and enhanced our knowledge of the social science

faculty

Aim 2: Successfully development a skills set gained by a social scientist at Sheffield

University

Aim 3: More research needed to be conducted if we were to host a successful employment

related event.

In December 2012 we reviewed our accomplishments so far and evaluated the third aim, which we

felt had more complications than we first anticipated. We realised at this point that we had left

ourselves with too little time to host a successful employability event. Thinking realistically we

realised that although we would be able to manage organising such an event, due to time limitations

it was unlikely to be as successful as we would have hoped. The way that the second term was

structure meant that planning would be limited and also there would be difficulties of hosting an

event in after Easter due to academic commitments for SALTs, staff and students that might be

interested in attending.

Additionally we felt that we had gained a lot from our first term’s worth of research and did not

want to overlook these important findings. Subsequently, we decided to re-evaluate our goals and

focus on fully analysing and utilizing our findings so far.

Though research in first term had been successful we also acknowledged the challenges of working

with such a larger group (13 SALTs), we face difficulties with arranging meetings everyone could

make, fair allocation of tasks, and issues of quality of task completion. Therefore, it was decided that

we would split into three sub-groups with each group focussing on three separate tasks:

Conduct focus groups to add depth to our understandings and gain a greater understanding

of how other students viewed social scientists

Create a poster to display the skills set of a social scientist

Create a video focusing on the perceptions of the social scientist


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Group 1: The ‘focus group’ group (for findings and task report see appendix 2.1)

The aim of this group was to conduct a focus group with a variety of social science students, from all

years, on faculty cohesion and whether this was important to students or something that they

identified themselves as – did they define themselves as social scientists or from a department.

Group 2: The video group (for findings and task report see appendix 2.3)

The main aim of the video was to explore the different viewpoints regarding social sciences from

university students outside of the faculty, students currently studying social science degrees, and the

perspective of SALTs. We wanted to address the mixture of departments in the faculty, and also the

skills that social scientists have, linking back to our work in semester one where we established a list

of skills gained as social science students. This video was mainly for awareness purposes, as we

highlighted the lack of consensus about the departments under the social science faculty, and also

brought attention to other skills that perhaps would not be associated with social science subjects.

Group 3: The poster group (for findings and task report see appendix 2.2)

The project aimed to develop a deeper understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of the social

sciences disciplines and delineates the key transferable skills which social sciences' graduates

develop in order to increase the scope of their career opportunities.


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Second Term Tasks

Developed research into issues of employability

o Spoke with the social science career advisers Alison Clay and Marcus

Zientek.

o Attended and spoke to employers of social science graduates at two

careers fairs.

Evaluation and review of tasks so far and future aims

o The aim to host an employment event was evaluated and decided that it

was unsuitable.

o Instead we focused on our existing findings

We split into three subgroups to develop our existing research

o ‘Focus group’ group

o Video group

o Poster group

(For further details on how these tasks were conducted please see appendixes 2.1., 2.2, 2.3

respectively).

Planned and organised an event to showcase our findings (Monday the 13th of

May)


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Reflections

We have thoroughly enjoyed working as SALT’s this year. I think we have all learnt so much about

the faculty, our department and ourselves. We have all made new friends and have made full use of

the opportunity to gain skills ourselves as social scientists.

Notably we have all further developed the following skills:

Communication

Interpersonal skills

Time management

Flexibility

Awareness of others

Qualitative research skills

Professionalism

Delegation

Teamwork

Additionally there have been many positives that have come from being a SALT. One in particular

has been the opportunities to interact with other members of the university that we may have not

otherwise have met. It has been extremely rewarding being a SALT this year and we have all gained a

deeper understanding of the faculty which has enhanced our experiences of university.

Considerations for future projects

Time-management as well as being a skill we developed was initially a challenge for the social

science SALTs as there are 13 different departments within the faculty and so 13 different students

that make up our group. With such a large group it really has been difficult to find time to all meet

together with such varied timetables.

To start with we thought we would easily be able to full fill all 4 of our aims but it quickly became

apparent that things take a lot longer than we first anticipated. In this sense our big ambitions could

not be reached! However, through the year we have reached our first 3 aims really in depth.

We had issues with planning tasks for such a large group. In future we feel that we should plan

ahead, have a much clearer time scale and a much more realistic target. Although, it is useful that

we have learnt this now for future projects we may get involved in.


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Acknowledgements

The 2012/13 social science SALTs would like to thank everyone that have shown interest in, and

offered support to our project this year. We have thoroughly appreciated the help we have been

given and the willingness individual’s have shown when offering their support.

We would especially like to thank Amy Jefferies and Claire Allam, who have provided us with

continual encouragement throughout the year.


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Appendix

1. Findings:

1.1 Summary of Faculty Skills Set

Skills Set: Summary findings


Every department in the Faculty of Social Sciences bases at least some of its teaching on current 'real world' issues and topics.

Creativity in terms of assessment ideas

The vast majority of departments (excluding Economics and Law) use a wide variety of assessment methods such as presentations, posters, video production etc.

Team work Group work is a common feature of all departments, though not always popular with students.

Critical thinking Critical thinking is an intrinsic part of all Social Sciences disciplines, although is conceptualised in a variety of ways, from Law where the whole course is about critical thinking to the use of creative design as a critical process in Architecture or Landscape.


Most people interpreted this more as the possibility for personal development generally than as entrepreneurship/enterprise….there is a lot of information about efforts departments make regarding employability, and generic info regarding 'extra-curricular skills acquisition'. Guest lectures, work placements, volunteering opportunities all figure.

Communication (written and verbal)

Written communication skills are a given. Verbal communication skills are not an assessed feature in a minority of departments (Economics, Politics).


The majority of departments help students develop professional social skills. Politics, Sociological Studies, iSchool offer fewer opportunities. Management and Planning offer placements and internships, so indirectly provide this as does SEAS with its year abroad.

Data handling and production- critical and analytical

Data analysis, qualitative and quantitative research methods, data handling/references, occur in many departments, Those who report that data handling is not so relevant to their course are: Law, Planning, Education, and SEAS.


There is opportunity on all courses for advanced research, often elective.

Self focus and independent learning skills

Independent learning is necessary feature of courses with few contact hours, as is self-motivation. Support is provided via tutorials.

Interdisciplinary focus and wider

The content of many courses encompasses a range of disciplines, so can be called interdisciplinary. Law is an exception. There is not much comment on access to modules in other departments although some courses have elective modules.

Logical This is prevalent in all courses, where a need for a logical approach to work and the logical presentation of assessed work is a necessity. However it is taught.


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1.2 Skills Set by departments

Geography

Skills Set: Geography


Study current debates and issues case studies are debated in lectures and seminars as well as in essays. All forms of assessment deal with current issues


A mixture of poster presentations, powerpoints (With the possibility of including videos), exams, seen exams, coursework reports and coursework essays

Team work Group work is a teaching skill in around half of all modules and exists in the majority (if not all) 3rd year modules both assessed and non- assessed

Critical thinking Encouraged to critically analyse contemporary debates throughout modules


The department works closely with the society hosting careers events and talks. Lectures encourage students to go to relevant events and talks outside of academic work


Both verbal and written communication are assessed in the majority of courses through presentations and essays


Presenting is a key skill that is tested in some geography modules (in a core module in 1st year) and interaction with both peers and academics develops social skills in a variety of environments.


In first and second year you are required to take certain research methods modules, teaching qualitative and quantitative research methods and this are put to use in dissertations which are compulsory.


In second year you are required to take at least 2 out of 3 advanced research modules that cover qualitative research, statistics or Geographical Information Systems.


Tutorials provide help in individual development and the majority of assessment is on personal work


Core geography modules encompass economics, history, urban planning, sociology, philosophy, psychology, maths and aspects of journalism and media studies.

Logical You are required to think logically in all written work. Statistics is a core module in first year and a recommended module in second year.


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Journalism

Skills Set: Journalism


All broadcast and press skills are complimented by knowledge of current issues. There's also an important focus on applying skills in professional/journalistic environments within the newsroom and Sheffield community.


Plenty. Web Journalism, Broadcast, Journalism Skills and Magazine Journalism provide copious amounts of opportunities for individual creativity.

Team work Sufficient. Assessments are based on individual and group effort. Encouraged to work as team to better inform students of a professional newsroom environment and dealing with difficult personalities.

Critical thinking Critical thinking is introduced through ethic modules and seminars.


Affiliates with several organisations nationwide and furthers career opportunities for students.


The Journalism Department prides itself on producing graduates with excellent communication skills and high standard writing.


Any course in Journalism Studies develops a raft of personal qualities and transferable skills that employers require. These include being strong and self-reliant, a strong communicator and good at interacting with a wide range of people from different background.


Knowledge of data handling to make sure stories and work doesn't lack precision. Accurate and polished data references are a must.


Individual and team research is essential for story background. Staff constantly located within newsrooms oversee students research properly and ethically.


Independent learning links to independent thinking and developing initiative to work outside a student's comfort zone. Most assessments are individual work


History, politics, philosophy, media law and local government knowledge is provided throughout the duration of the course. Students will also independently seek information about wider issues of their own interest whilst working on individual assessments.

Logical Standard logical thinking during individual research, seminars and essays. Patch work in all three years involves logical approach when devising strategies for material development.


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Economics

Skills Set: Economics


All theories taught applied to real world situations lectures. Study current issues E.g recession. Many applied courses E.g Economics of education - theories applied to real markets


Lacking. Assessment always exam or essay. No assessment on group activities / presentations etc.

Team work Group tasks incorporated into modules workshops especially in third year. Non-assessed presentations on papers assigned to allocated groups = student lead workshops

Critical thinking Encouraged to apply own ideas/ arguments/ knowledge in addition to applying evidence from literature


Encouraged and supported through Econsoc but possibly lacking in teaching / learning


Essays & written essay style exams predominant form of assessment


Presentations in workshops, although mainly 3rd year, discussion of issues with peers highly encouraged - E.g. discussion boards, office hour utilization encouraged,


Large focus throughout undergraduate years. Statistical and research method modules taught through all years with many being compulsorily. Assigned readings require understanding of econometric methods from first year level. Data handling mush greater for dissertation students but introduced on smaller scale in research modules.


Again, research methods / econometrics incorporate the handling of data and research strategies and concepts. Dissertation not compulsory so experienced by some students more than others


Lectures are never enough - additional reading is always necessary and highly encouraged. Some modules' essay assessment topics may be only briefly covered whilst other modules offer complete freedom of choice over the essay topic (within means).


core modules incorporate maths, statistics, management whilst some optional modules have more specific interdisciplinary focus e.g. The economics of wellbeing, educational economics, development economics, international economics, health economics…

Logical Requirement for essays and exams. Not all issues are taught / covered so logic must be applied to adapt taught theories.


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Politics

Skills Set: Politics


Most of what a Politics student studies is related to real world examples and case studies. However, a lot is also purely theoretical.


Essays and unseen exams are the main assessment methods in the Politics department, with marks for most modules being split 50/50 for the two. There are no assessed verbal presentations, although each year there is one assessed group project and at level three there is an assessed poster presentation.

Team work Each year Politics students have to complete an assessed group project. There are also some non-assessed presentations which take place within seminars and often must be given by multiple students.

Critical thinking As well as researching extant literatures on a topic, for every essay or exam answer Politics students are expected to develop their own arguments and be able to justify them with recourse to past works and real-life examples.


The Politics department has many links with various political organisations who give career talks and presentations on further study throughout the year. The Politics Society also has its own careers talks.


A degree in Politics from the University of Sheffield is essentially a degree in essay writing. With the main assessment method being typed essays, or written essay answers in an exam, Politics students leave the department with well-honed written communication skills. Verbal communication skills are somewhat neglected in the department though, as there is no verbally assessed work.


Politics students have the opportunity to get to know academic staff well; they are always welcoming during their office hours. A lot of students do not take these opportunities however and there are few other aspects of the course which develop students’ professional social skills.


In their second year Politics students must complete a data analysis module, where they critically analyse various research methods, then produce their own data which is subsequently analysed, with SPSS software. Pupils have the option of producing primary data for their level three dissertations and are at least expected to analyse secondary data.


In their third year, students can choose to complete a specific ‘research methods dissertation’ for which they have to attend several workshops, where they further develop their expertise in research methods.


The majority of assessment is individual which means pupils mostly learn independently. This is accentuated by the fact there are so few contact hours for Politics students.


Politics modules can overlap with topics from economics, sociology, philosophy, psychology and history.

Logical There is no obvious aspect of the course which teaches students about logic.


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Sociology

Skills Set: Sociology


All our modules are applicable to the real world and to everyday life. This is the basis of our whole course, including looking at social policy issues etc. which can change daily


We have a variety of methods - presentations, powerpoints, exams, essays, group work tasks, surveys, mini research projects

Team work Group work is part of most modules and can be worth something towards your overall mark or just to help you engage in study – ENCOURAGED

Critical thinking Always asked to support arguments with own knowledge, readings/literature etc. As well as encouraged to read newspapers/news/radio etc.


Have little knowledge of how this is incorporated in teaching and learning


Presentations/group work for verbal and essays/reports etc. for written


Only professional social skills I have used are liaising with outside course activities - volunteering etc. Not explicitly learnt from course - only talking to peers


compulsory to take a research module so have to handle data etc. most of the time - links to most modules at some point


Again core research modules over year 1 and 2 and then dissertation yr 3


very few contact hours so most is independent learning, motivating yourself etc. Seminars are useful for asking questions to seminar leader etc. Small group discussions


All our modules can be inter related to most other departments at some point - a lot of free choice about modules and the essays you choose so can incorporate anything you are interested in

Logical not everything is taught and a lot is own initiative to go and find out for yourself - logic used in essay writing etc.


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Law

Skills Set: Law


Research and learning topical and up-to-date situations. Often based on news and current affairs situations. Students are also encouraged on a wider level to get involved in the real world side of things. This can be by responding to government consultations for new legislation and studying on the FreeLaw module, which provides students with the opportunity to gain clinical legal education by working on real cases for members of the public.


While the type of assessment is similar for each module and is often based on coursework and exams there is a lot of creativity in the title that is set. Each essay and topic can be dealt with in different ways and therefore students can be creative in terms of the argument that they present.

Team work Some seminars for certain modules encourage teamwork, although is limited as students do not like team work (very much a generalised comment)

Critical thinking The entire course and indeed the nature of studying law is about critical thinking. It is a essential feature of the whole course and you cannot get a 2:1 without developing a highly critical stance and form of thinking.


Constantly pushes students to develop. This can be through careers and other events run within the law school, it can also be through the Law Society and through other parts of the university. The law school also has projects dedicated to this, like the 'DLA Piper Employment and Skills Programme'.


Communication, both written and oral is key to the teaching and learning of law and it is a fundamental part of every course due to presentations and essays.


Through the numerous careers events there is a large push to developing these skills. These are extras that students could avoid if they want; however, it would be quite hard as there is so many and there is a clear expectation that students will develop in this manner.


Not really much data handling. A lot of learning cases, which is similar; however, in practice it is a difference between other social science degrees.


Most modules involve a piece of coursework were students will have to do a lot of research on certain issues. There is also the choice to do modules that have even larger essay part so they can really do deep research and further their interests in a certain subject of their choice. Then there is also the chance to do a dissertation.


The contact time in Law is very limited and there is expectation there is a lot of independent work that is done by the students. Very well prepares students to work by themselves or with others rather than relying on staff for support. However, they are obviously there when needed.


Slightly limited. Through certain wider modules (company, commercial, environment etc.) there is the expectation that wider themes will be considered; however, modules outside of law are rightly discouraged and therefore this could be improved.

Logical A logical understanding and style of writing is clearly needed for all pieces of work and therefore there is a clear focus on logic and the ability to understand how the law has developed and the rationale that the judges and parliament has used to develop the law in this way.


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Landscape Architecture

Skills Set: Landscape Architecture


Most of the modules covered contemporary issues of landscape research or design. Lectures provided many real projects as examples to share the experience in practice, and students obtain abundant opportunities to link theories with practice through many field trips, site surveys, investigations and group works, etc.


Poster presentations, PowerPoint, video, design drawings, exams, course reports and essays.

Team work Most of the courses require group work, design and presentations, and the group work will be marked.

Critical thinking Specific lectures and training are designed for improving the critical thinking and analysis abilities of students, e.g. Module for research skills. Both UG and PG students need to do literature review, or even seminar review.


Graduates and employers are invited for presentations. Few events relate to career development.


Presenting in lots of modules, which is significant in our teaching. For undergraduate study, we especially have one module for presentation, communication and research. Writing reports and essays are one section of assessments in many modules.


Writing, design, analysing and drawing are especially emphasised in most of the modules.


Both qualitative and quantitative methods for research are introduced in the PG study level. Computer skills for using software to handle, analysis and present digital and text data are valued in our learning and teaching strategy. Dissertations, projects reports and drawings, course reports all require students to reach a high level of ability to analyse and present data.


We have presentation, communication and research module for undergraduate students, and landscape research module for post graduate students. GIS is taught in PG study.


The majority of the assessments are independent work focused, and we have personal tutors to provide help.


We have joint design workshop with architecture department. Many lectures and seminars in both these two departments are open to our students. For PhD students they can choose modules in the Faculty level, and are invited to lectures and seminars in different departments.

Logical Students are required to do reasonable designs and layout their drawings logically. Presentations, essays and reports all require an explicit expression.


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Architecture

Skills Set: Architecture


The course aims to develop the collaborative, communicative, managerial, financial, design and research acumen of students, to provide a broad platform of skills from which graduates are enabled to define their own career trajectory within a wide field of built-environment related activity – not necessarily as a conventional design architect


Interactive workshops followed by group presentations, essay, portfolio, poster presentations, exams, power point

Team work Teamwork involves of working with groups of 2-10 members depending upon on the project. Some projects also involve working with other disciplines in a more collaborative way. This develops in a student more confidence with enhanced interpersonal skills as they will be required to work with a team of professionals from different disciplines.

Critical thinking Design process itself is taught as creative problem solving exercise. Further to numerous courses which instil critical thinking as a required skill, numerous seminars and debates are conducted in the department which are highly interactive and encourages students to develop these skills.


Apart from top architectural firms, many upcoming young architects are also invited to give presentation on their works to inspire students to develop their own practice after graduation.


Right from year one students are given guidance and opportunities to develop their presentation skills through numerous seminars, presentations, studio reviews.


As a part of course work students develop the professional skills required. Students are introduced to a range of practitioners and projects during the course of their education, for example via management modules in both the UG and MArch programmes. A central feature of the two Masters’ years is the Live Project, a six-week period of student-led work for real clients in real time, usually in Sheffield but also abroad.


The design courses provides the student with in-depth knowledge about data collection, analysis, and presentation.


As a part of the thesis project students are encouraged to develop their research interest. In addition there are numerous modules which requires the students to do develop research skills as well.


the students are develop skills of self focus and independent learning through module course works and also through design works.


Architecture is presented as a inter-disciplinary subject from the beginning and the school is numerous taught courses humanities, technology, environmental design, communication, management. The Masters course offers specialism through studios combining both Y5 and Y6 students according to different social and cultural interests.

Logical The deign reviews also involves contribution made by external tutors and Visiting Professors into the design studio who guide and provide students with feedback on the creative and feasible aspects of their design solutions.


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Management

Skills Set: Management


Information and skills studied are focused on those, which are transferable to future employment and studies. Case studies are frequently used to examine real world environments and examples, with a focus on the impact of business decisions on stakeholders. A&F students are able to receive exemptions from the foundation levels of professional qualification examinations.


There is a well-rounded selection of subject areas covered in both programmes, with the opportunity to self-select elective modules. Each module culminates with assessments that tests students understanding through the most appropriate methods such as presentations, examinations and assignments

Team work Group work is a key part of both programmes at the management school, with projects and presentations usually in set groups. Individual evaluation by students of group projects is also a significant area that the school pays attention to when judging group work performance.

Critical thinking Problem solving is key to the courses offered at management school. Students will get the opportunity to analyse current and past business issues, regulations and events, and to comment on such issues based on their own knowledge and research.


Due to the importance placed on internships & post-graduation work, students are encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities, work experience, union societies or volunteering to become well-rounded individuals and increase their employability. A compulsory module on professional self management is given in the first year for both management and A&F students, which focuses on creating CVs, development of transferable soft skills and working on a professional development plan.


Presentations and assignments are included in several of the core modules, which more emphasis on the management programme. Students are pushed to try new formats of writing, by also taking the position of different stakeholders of the issue/question set.


Through the opportunity to listen to guest lecturers and meet with employers, students are given a greater insight into the working environment. However, this is not addressed directly, and experience is usually attained through internships and job opportunities.


Opportunities to consolidate knowledge of mathematics and statistics are available through modules in both management and A&F. A&F will undoubtedly cover significantly more numerical aspects in comparison to the management course. Students will develop proficient data processing skills through several projects and assignments based upon data sets and information.


A significant portion of reading material looks at research conducted by leading professors and researchers around the world. Students are encouraged to look at a range of resources, in addition to looking at historical events to give deeper context & background. Consideration of regulations and government legislation is also necessary when looking at business activity.


There is a significant flexibility for students in picking elective modules, so that they are able to study and learn more about areas of business that interest them. Lectures and tutorials are usually to support self-study of students, by introducing specific topics and highlighting key areas of the subject, which are deemed important.


Topics of discussions and essays push students to look at the wider impact of theoretical concepts on areas such as social behaviour, ethics, economics and environment. As the level of difficulty of assessments increases, students are required to take into consideration the more of the different stakeholders involved in business operations.

Logical There is a requirement that written work follows a clear, concise and logical pattern. Logical tests are also a significant part of the job application process for fields relating to management and A&F, but are not tested directly through degree programmes.


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Information Sciences

Skills Set: Information Sciences


Looking at trends in the Information society through the use of Technology/programming and being taught based on current topics.


Assessments such as powerpoint presentations, Posters, Videos and websites.

Team work Group work is used in a variety of our assessments, therefore building team working skills.

Critical thinking Being able to critically evaluate techniques and ideas is an important aspect of the Information Degree.


The information school regularly hold guest lecturers for its students to attend and have held workshops with the likes of Accenture before now.


Written and verbal communication is used throughout the assessment over the course of the degree.


Essays written in the correct format and presentations are commonly emphasized.


There are modules where students carry out research and produce a research poster with the data.


As above


A lot of the work is carried out independently however the luxury of having a smaller department is that lecturers feel more approachable and have been happy to help in the past


In the Information school we have unrestricted module which can be taken in any faculty along with a variety of modules that touch on departments such as management.

Logical Logic is developed over the course of the degree but not taught directly.


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Planning

Skills Set: Planning


Study current issues and debates, uses real examples from around the world and uses locations within Sheffield as case studies.


Variety of methods used including- exams, essays, reports, group work, presentations, portfolio work. Some of this isn’t always welcome/ appreciated!

Team work group work is incorporated in about 50% of first and second year modules, a couple of 3rd year modules and both compulsory 4th year modules, it is mostly assessed and again isn’t always welcome.

Critical thinking Critical thinking is encouraged throughout the degree and is the focus of a lot of assessment “Critically evaluate.....”


New Student Led Seminars and the appointment of an employability officer for the department is improving this. PlanningSoc offers a couple of talks throughout the year. Compulsory placements also help encourage this.


lots of presentations to develop verbal communication and group work. Visual communication through portfolio work and written through essays and reports.


Compulsory placements help this, as do presentations but not much else done to promote this.


Not much handling of data on the course and is mostly avoided at all costs ie ISS (dissertation equivalent) doesn’t involve data handling.


Statistics is taught in 1st year. GIS is taught is 2nd year and encouraged in 4th year. Costing and profitability of development taught in second year.


Low contact hours means lots of independent work required.


Most modules relate to other departments inc maths, economics, politics, geography, design. There is not module choice in years 2 and 3. 1st year has 20 open credits and 4th has 60 credits to be taken within the department.

Logical Logic is key throughout the degree but not formally taught.


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Education

Skills Set: Education


The course relates to the state of the Education system in society today and how this affects children.


A range of assessment methods are used within the course such as essays, reports, presentations and portfolios.

Team work Group work is incorporated within all my modules from doing activities in the session to assessed presentation, there is a key focus in being able to work with groups of people in different situations.

Critical thinking We are encouraged to think critically about everything we learn and engage in debates and discussions within class and also within our assessed work.


EdSoc is closely linked to the department and has many opportunities such as charity events, volunteering and a buddy system for students to get involved in. We are also well linked with the career service and get a lot of advice and help from them.


We are assessed through a range of written essays and verbal presentations which improve our communication skills.


Compulsory placements are set for second year students in semester 2 which helps build skills within a working environment and mix with a range of people in educational settings.


Data handling is not really relevant within my course.


Research modules are quite prominent throughout the course. We have to undertake a small scale research project of our choice during second year.


We have tutorials where we discuss and reflect on our learning and we are encouraged to keep learning journals for some of the modules, especially when researching. Also due to the amount of contact hours we have, we are expected to do a lot of independent work by ourselves.


Most of the modules incorporate education and childhood within social, historical, political, technological and psychological contexts so we gain a broad range of knowledge.

Logical Logic isn't really a key aspect within the course unless referring to a logical and coherent essay structure.


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East Asian Studies

Skills Set: East Asian Studies


All language modules are about communicating with real people in the real world. The year abroad placement at a university also prepares people for life in that country. Other modules also include real world politics, economy and society.


A variety of methods are used – exams, presentations, coursework, group work. Assessments are also carried out throughout the year and with regular feedback.

Team work In language modules, communication is key and therefore it is common practise to work in groups during seminars etc. Other modules also regularly include group work and presentations.

Critical thinking East Asian Studies students have to opportunity to also study politics, economics, history, society and linguistics and therefore are able to acquire this skill from a range of subject areas.


For language students the main skill needed is translation into English which is something all student are greatly prepared for.


Aside from the obvious communication skills one acquires from a language module, other East Asian modules provide a setting to improve essay writing and presentation skills.


The year abroad gives the student a chance to experience to target country and the lifestyle there. They can also use it as a opportunity to look at the career market.


Minimal data handling – a few modules will need data research for essays etc.


There are no distinct research modules but all non language modules have the opportunity to research for the assignments and assessments.


Although there are quite a few contact hours, there are also a lot of hours of individual learning needed to learn vocabulary for example. Time managing your personal studying time and making time for both language and other modules is a great skill learnt by East Asian students.


East Asian Studies is one of the most interdisciplinary departments as it teaches a wide range of subjects, with the setting of East Asia as its base.

Logical Language modules take a lot of logical thinking as language has often been likened to maths formulas.


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1.3 Social Sciences Skills Set Poster

1.3 Social Sciences Skills Set Poster


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2. Reports on findings

2.1 Focus Group Findings and Report

Focus group findings: Faculty

Appreciation and Understanding

Philip Wells (Law), Emily McDool (Economics), Alex Fenton (Politics) and Lucie Hartland (Sociology)

Summary: In order to evaluate student perception on faculty cohesion, we conducted four focus

groups which asked students questions referring to inter-departmental and faculty issues. The focus

groups were part of a wider SALT project which identified the cohesiveness of the Social Science

Faculty. We used a sample of fifteen students who each volunteered through SURE and student

committees.

The main aims of these focus groups included:

- To gain a deeper insight into people’s understanding of the faculty

- To investigate people’s opinion on the relevance of social sciences

- To understand people’s interest in the cohesiveness of the faculty

Potential questions were piloted on a number of social science departmental directors of learning

and teaching and further reviewed by members of Learning & Teaching Services (LeTS).

Informed consent was gained from respondents through a consent form, signed before focus

groups; a voucher was given as an incentive for participation.

Overall, students did not identify with the faculty, moreover, they thought if they were to identify,

there would be a lack of potential benefits from doing so. There was general consensus that the

departments comprising social science are not cohesive and were grouped for administrative

purposes.


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Findings:

Participants handed paper, asked to write down which subjects are in the social science faculty.

Respondents were generally unaware what constituted a social science; none of the respondents

were able to identify all thirteen departments with most being able to identify only half. Commonly

identified departments included Sociology and Geography, whilst some respondents believed Law

was an individual faculty. Architecture, Landscape, Town and Regional Planning and Education were

the departments that respondents did not identify.

Do you feel it is appropriate all these subjects are grouped together?

Most students did not understand why many of these departments were grouped together and it

was commonly believed that this was due to administration purposes rather than the interlinking

elements between the subjects. The grouping of departments, such as Economics, alongside other

departments such as Town and Regional Planning, Landscape or Architecture surprised some

students. A number of students expressed that the belief that the Social Science faculty consists of

departments left out from Engineering or Science groupings.

How would you define a ‘social science’?

There was general consensus that studies within the faculty relate to people, society and human

behaviour whilst being the opposite of natural sciences.

It was also believed that subjects were predominantly essay based whilst relating to more subjective

topics.

Why is it important to teach and study the social sciences?

An interesting evaluation was that whilst natural sciences was important for developing and creating

new technologies, social science studies is important for assessing how to use these new

technologies.

Responses evolved around the benefits to society of understanding the interaction of people and the

importance of research.


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How much do you feel part of the faculty of social science?

Generally, students did not perceive to be part of the Social Science faculty and only identified as

part of their department. A number of dual honours students highlighted that they felt more

included in the faculty as they were part of more than one department.

How much benefit do you feel it would be to take more modules from varying social science

courses?

Students predominantly believed that taking modules from departments within the faculty would be

beneficial, however, students expressed concern regarding the impact upon employability and

believed that the options should be aligned with future career paths. It was noted that taking a

wider variety of modules in first year would allow for students to expand their skillset.

Some students felt restricted by the University requirements for continuing with modules.

The key factors involved in the decision making process when opting for modules included the level

of interest, usefulness for future employment and convenience.

Do you want to be part of a faculty?

Respondents generally identified little benefit from being part of a faculty and believed an

improvement in cohesiveness would intensify the desire to be part of the faculty.

Do you think it affects student experience?

Whilst this was a difficult question for students, with little scope for comparison, most respondents

felt that being part of a faculty was not of great importance and did not greatly impacted upon their

student experience.

Some students suggested scope for improvement including increased communication between

departments and sharing of good practise. It was also suggested that ‘give it a go’ style taster


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sessions that invited students from other departments to trial modules, would be beneficial

and of interest.

Reflections:

Overall the project went well and there were numerous positives arising from it. As individuals

leading the project we all gained a valuable understanding of research methodologies in relation to

how we structured and asked questions. Equally, we also learned valuable skills about presenting

and leading a focus group, which was insightful and useful for the future.

There were, however, some challenges that had to be overcome during the course of the project.

First, when we initially formulated the question we had been overambitious and created far too

many questions. Therefore, we had to narrow them down and focus on those that were the most

important to our study. We also had to attract sufficient number of volunteers for the study. While

we were able to get a good sample size, thanks to the fact we offered vouchers for the participants,

a larger sample would have been even more useful.

Overall we feel positive about the project and about the final product. While there are definitely

themes within the report (our final product for this sub-group) that could and should be expanded

upon it nevertheless provides an insightful view into the cohesion of departments within the overall

faculty.

It is sincerely hoped that the report will be put to good use and that staff will be able to use this as a

springboard to fully evaluate the cohesion, or lack of it, within social science.

Future recommendations:

The main recommendation I would make for those starting new projects along these lines would be

to try and do a comprehensive, and realistic, plan of how best to meet your goals. It is important not

to overshoot and therefore creating a plan that is achievable is essential.

It is also important to create a clear and plan and timeline, without which it is easy to lose sight of

the true goals of the project.


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2.2 Short film Report

Short film: Social Science Faculty

Yasmine Gleghorn (Journalism), Maya Lad (Education), Cindy Setiadi (Management), Jake Young

(Information Science)

Summary: The main aim of our video was to explore the different viewpoints regarding social

sciences from university students outside of the faculty, students currently studying social science

degrees, and the perspective of SALTs. We wanted to address the mixture of departments in the

faculty, and also the skills that social scientists have, linking back to our work in semester one where

we established a list of skills gained as social science students. This video was mainly for awareness

purposes, as we highlighted the lack of consensus about the departments under the social science

faculty, and also brought attention to other skills that perhaps would not be associated with social

science subjects.

Methodology:

We had a number of meetings initially where we planned out what we were going to film,

and a general timeline/storyboard of the video.

Our two questions were: 1) What departments are in the social sciences faculty and 2) What

skills do social scientists have.

There was quite a bit of preparation involved before filming started, as we had to book the

equipment and prepare the cards needed for the video.

We did two sessions of filming: the first session was when we asked different participants

the two questions we agreed on (done before Easter holidays), whilst the second was to get

footage for the card sequence in the video.

After we got all the footage, we combined the video with the audio, and began putting

together the video in the journalism department using the software Final Cut Pro.

Unfortunately, a day’s worth of work was lost due to an error with one of the computers and

we had to redo a significant portion of our editing.

After the first version of the video was finished, it was sent off to Amy & Claire for review,

and from the feedback, we re-edited the video again.

The final version will be shown at the event on the 13th of May, and the social on the 17th.


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Final Product: A short film on the identity of a social scientist.

Reflections:

We got to talk to a variety of students and get their input on social sciences from a different

perspective, which was quite interesting.

Getting footage for the video was quite challenging, due to weather conditions and conflicting

schedules between group members.

The editing process took up a longer period of time than was expected, and we had issues where

some our work was deleted, hence we had to re-edit a significant part of the video

Initially we planned to make a 2 minute video, but as editing progressed, we had to accommodate

the extra footage, and it became longer.

The video project was a great opportunity for us to work on a creative activity which we would

otherwise not be involved in within our respective courses.

We got learn how to use video making equipment and software, which was a useful and interesting

experience.

We worked together really well, and each took up different responsibilities as the project

progressed. We couldn’t always have everyone at each meeting, but we did try to meet up and work

on the video as much as our personal schedules would allow.

We had a clear plan as to the final product that we wanted to create. We were in constant

communication throughout the project, and often met up to discuss our plans further

We feel the video does convey the general aim of the project, and fits in with the rest of the work

we have done over the year, as an audiovisual accompaniment to the posters and reports. It was

never our intention to create an extensive and detailed video, as this information is covered through

the posters and results from the focus group.

Future Recommendations:

Having videos, as an output, would be a good way to raise awareness of SALT work as it is easy to

distribute, and catches the attention of students.

Perhaps more detailed videos could be done in the future, which focus on each specific department

as well as the social sciences faculty in general.


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2.3 Poster Report

Skills Set Poster: Social Science Faculty

Fei (Mo Landscape Architecture), Ru Trow (East Asian Studies), Lakshmi Priya Rajendran

(Architecture), Emily Chapman (Town and Regional Planning)

Final Product: A poster illustrating the key skills set of a social scientist

Summary: Our poster displays the ‘Social Science Skill Set’ as a result of findings in the first term of

the 2012/13 academic year. The brief of our SALT project this year was the highlight the

commonalities between departments in the Social Science faculty to help establish the identity of a

social scientist. We were concerned about issues about the employability of a social science student

and so we analysed the similarities in the learning and teaching methods between departments.

Research was conducted by all SALTS, and allowed us to establish the 10 key skills that a general

social science student would gain and develop as a consequence of the learning and teaching

methods we observed. Additional findings highlighted the interdisciplinary nature of the knowledge

and skills gained between social science departments. Our poster therefore highlights both the top

10 skills gained by a social science graduate at Sheffield University and its interdisciplinary nature of

the social science faculty.

Methodology:

Initially we approached the task of establishing an identity of a social scientist by researching the

similarities in learning and teaching methods across the faculty and the skills that social science

graduates would develop as a consequence of these. We were interested in issues concerning the

employability of a social science graduate and wanted to show that employability of social science

graduate due to their diverse skills set. Therefore, in the first semester of the 2012/13 academic year

all of the social science SALTs sat in on each others’ lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials to

gain a better insight into the teaching styles of other departments in comparison to their own. These

findings highlighted the 10 key skills that were gained through learning and teaching methods in all

departments and were written up in a spreadsheet. The skills set spreadsheet provides evidence of

the learning and teaching methods of each department relevant to each skill.

As we wanted to highlight the skill set we decided that it would be most appropriate to display our

findings visually on a poster. Examining the evidence displayed in the spreadsheet we were able to

highlight the top 3 skills gained in each department. As we thought this was an interesting finding we

have also displayed these on our poster and summarized how each department developments 3

specific skills.


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Reflections:

The task has been satisfactory in terms of fulfilling the goals of establishing as well as reinforcing the

strength of a social sciences graduate in terms of skills, highlighting the employability of a social

science graduate.

The task became much more manageable once we were split up into groups and we were able to

have greater input into the final product.

The task needs to discuss within both large group and sub-group, in order to have a good control of

the general aims and improve the depth of work.

Positives

The explorative task of the finding common grounds in terms of skills developed in each of

departments helped us to realise the potentialities of collaboration between various

disciplines within social sciences.

The research that we did in the first semester (including visiting other lectures) greatly

helped us with this part of the project and gave us individually a better understanding of the

identity of a social science student. This made it easier for us to make the poster and convey

our findings to others.

Challenges:

Initial misunderstanding between what was expected out of the project led us to believe the

most important element of the poster was its visual dimension and so less time was spent

ensuring a depth to the information displayed.

The skill set that was developed after the first semester's research showed some differences

in how some of the SALTs defined the skills set and so it was confusing trying to understand

each SALT's individual opinions and this complicated the making of the poster.

Future Recommendations:

Initial discussion with provides clear instruction of the aims and goals of the projects and the time

frame is recommended.

I think our findings are quite interesting and worth sharing with the students of our faculty, so it

would be nice to see this information reaching the student body and informing them about the

faculty that they are a part of.

Attention should be given to time control in large group cooperation, especially for the Faculty of

Social Science, as we has 13 departments which meant more difficulties for an effective

communication and team work; hence the responsibility of each member needs to be more explicit.

Documents

Social Science SALTs 2012/13 Project Report