Course Catalog 2006-2007

KIE-3456 SOCIETY AND STATE, ENGLISH ADVANCED WEB COURSE, 3 cr
Society and State, English Advanced Web Course

Lecturetimes and places
Language center timetables

Implementations
  Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 Period 5 Summer
Online work 6 h/week 6 h/week - 6 h/week 6 h/week -
(Timetable for academic year 2006-2007)

Objectives
To give students a critical view of contemporary life and instutions in the UK. To provide an insight into working life, business, industry and culture and an interpretation of current issues and developments. To encourage critical thinking in comparing and contrasting with other systems and countries. to encourage research skills, reading comprehension and writing skills. To develop writing skills through essay writitng, reviews and the production of an acadmic or term paper. To encourage independent work in locating and evaluating source material and using it in support of studens￿own research. To encourage independent student learning

Content
Content Core content Complementary knowledge Specialist knowledge
1. Module 1
1. Introduction. UK identity formation; regions; language and culture; history as part of identity formation, current issues in identity formation such as Islamic identity; immigration; population expansion.
2. Education: overview of education system in the UK. Focus especially on higher education. Educational change and reform in the UK.
3. Politics and the economy. Thatcherism and its effects in the UK and elsewhere.
 		 Research skills. Reading comprehension and writing skills. Critical thinking.
Evaluation of source materials. Use of web environment 		   
2. Module 2
1. Business and industry in the UK. Corporate culture and working in the UK. Businesss culture
2. Employment and unemployment in the UK. Different economic models and evaluation of their success. analysis of the UK and economy and its relative success - how far real and imagined.
3. The environment. Environmental problems in the UK and in general. Threats and opportunities. Current issues in the environmental debate.
4. UK energy policy and climate change. Carbon footprint; primary and secondary energy; UK carbon footprint in context; UK domestic footprint. Transport in the UK
4. Science and technology in the UK; curent issues in the fields of technology
 		 Ditto    
3. Module 3
1. Government and administration. Local and Central government in the UK. The conflict between centre and periphery. Comparison with another country (e.g. Finland9; PR versus First past the Post electoral system
2. Health, medical and social care. Current issues in health care and medicine. The NHS
3. Living in the UK. Housing, leisure, sport, the class system. Communication culture.
4. Short introduction to formal and academic writing 		 Ditto    
4. Student tasks: a written task for each module as directed by the teacher and a final longer written assignment  Academic writing skills    

Requirements for completing the course
Completion of online reading and writing tasks as directed by the instructor

Evaluation criteria for the course

  • No examination. Evaluation is by continuous assessment of the tasks prescribed.

  • Used assessment scale is numeric (1-5)

    • Study material
    Type Name Auhor ISBN URL Edition, availability... Exam material Language
    Other online content           No   

    Prerequisites
    Prequisite relations (Sign up to TUT Intranet required)

    Remarks

  • CEF level: B2

    Distance learning

  • ITC utilized during the course

    • - In information distribution via homepage, newsgroups or mailing lists, e.g. current issues, timetables
    - In compiling teaching material, particularly for online use or other electronic media
    - In compiling exercise, group or laboratory work
    - In distributing and/or returning exercise work, material etc
    - In the visualization of objects and phenomena, e.g. animations, demonstrations, simulations, video clips
    - In interaction and discussion, such as online discussions, chat
    - In video conferences, video lectures
    - In exams or assessment of knowledge and skill/learning

  • Estimate as a percentage of the implementation of the course

    • - Contact teaching: %
    - Distance learning: 100 %
    - Proportion of a student's independent study: 70 %

  • Description of the course implementation from ICT point of view

    • No exam. One meeting at the beginning of the course

    Scaling
    Methods of instructionHours
    Information and communication technology 81
    Total sum 81

    Principles and starting points related to the instruction and learning of the course

  • It is envisaged that there will be an introductory meeting of 2 hours at the beginning of the course to explain the content, the medium, the way of working and learning outcome expectations

    • Additional information related to course
    As this is an advanced course, students are expected to have already quite good reading and writing ability and the motivation and discipline to work at a distance and work independently with support from the teacher.

    Last modified 04.06.2007
    Modified byJohn Shepherd