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Programme & Unit Catalogues


ED60281: Learning pedagogy and diversity

[Page last updated: 02 August 2022]

Academic Year: 2022/23
Owning Department/School: Department of Education
Credits: 18 [equivalent to 36 CATS credits]
Notional Study Hours: 360
Level: Doctoral (FHEQ level 8)
Period:
Modular (no specific semester)
Assessment Summary: CW 100%
Assessment Detail:
  • Coursework (CW 100%)
Supplementary Assessment:
Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Requisites:
Learning Outcomes: As a result of the development of their critical understanding, participants will be better able to:
1. critically examine learning policies and practices from a range of theoretical perspectives;
2. articulate how they draw on previous experiences to understand and evaluate the present, so as to shape future action and formulate new knowledge;
3. determine which approaches to evaluating learning can usefully be applied in their own educational contexts;
4. engage in and promote effective learning relationships with other learners to enhance: the development and exchange of knowledge and insight, and the synthesis of such knowledge into wider understanding;
5. design, execute and critically analyse a piece of research on learning in a setting of their choice, using appropriate research methodology.

Aims: The aims of this unit are to:
i. enable participants to develop a critical understanding of key theories of learning, their origins and influences in policies and practices in different contexts and cultures;
ii. critcially interrogate the assumptions underpinning different methods of researching pedagogy
iii. enable participants to critically reflect on the learning affordances of different educational environments for different groups of learners;
iv. encourage participants to reflect critically on innovative educational technologies and their implications for teaching, learning and assessment;
iv. engage participants in a critical analysis of processes and outcomes of learning, including the relationship between learning, teaching and assessment;
v. promote meta-learning, involving participants in a deeper awareness of their own approaches to assumptions about learning as they progress through the unit.

Skills: (i) Apply a systematic and coherent approach to critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis of ideas, information and issues that is well-grounded in existing educational research and literature in the area of teaching and learning (intellectual skill)
(ii) Identify and address complex and/or emerging issues in teaching and learning and make informed judgements in the absence of complete or consistent information (professional/ practical skill)
(iii) Continually develop and enhance participants' own practice in teaching and learning through critical reflection and practical action (professional/ practical skill)
(iv) Continually develop and enhance participants' own practice and influence the practice of others in the area of teaching and learning through critical reflection and practical action (professional/ practical skill)
(v) Use networked learning technologies as a means of developing one's own professional practice and scholarship (transferable skill).

Content: 1. Tools for Understanding Learning & Pedagogy across the life span. Perspectives on Learning: conceptualising the aims of learning ; theoretical explanations and models of learning; distinguishing between teaching and learning:
2. Current debates in teaching and learning: critiquing the "what works" approach; learning for the future; advances in neuroscience; new technology; specialist pedagogy
3. Assessment and Outcomes: Evaluating learning and reflecting on practice
4. Organisation for learning: dialogic pedagogy; group work
5. Diversity and Equity in the classroom.

Programme availability:

ED60281 is Optional on the following programmes:

Department of Education

Notes:

  • This unit catalogue is applicable for the 2022/23 academic year only. Students continuing their studies into 2023/24 and beyond should not assume that this unit will be available in future years in the format displayed here for 2022/23.
  • Programmes and units are subject to change in accordance with normal University procedures.
  • Availability of units will be subject to constraints such as staff availability, minimum and maximum group sizes, and timetabling factors as well as a student's ability to meet any pre-requisite rules.
  • Find out more about these and other important University terms and conditions here.