Module JXH-1021:
Portfolio Academic skills

Module Facts

Run by School of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences

10 Credits or 5 ECTS Credits

Semester 1 & 2

Organiser: Dr Andrew Cooke

Overall aims and purpose

Do you want to achieve the highest grades possible throughout your University career? Do you want to develop key transferable skills that will help you to secure your dream job, and allow you to thrive in the workplace? If the answer to these questions is yes then this module is for you. Designed to integrate you to University studies, this module will equip you with the fundamental skills, tips, tricks and time-savers to maximise your chances of producing first-class assignments in all of your modules. For example, you will be coached in how to write-assignments to University standard (which can be quite different from the writing you may have experienced before). Through fun informal exercises in class, you will gain experience and confidence in delivering engaging pitches and verbal presentations. You will also learn how to navigate and get the most out of the University’s online study resource platforms. The course is delivered by two established and well-published academics who both obtained first-class sport science degrees from Bangor University, achieving the highest marks in their respective cohorts.

Course content

The course will equip you with a range of skills that will help you to successfully navigate your studies and “be the best that you be” at Bangor University and in your future career. For example, the course covers topics such as; a) “How to get the most out of your lectures”; b) “How to plan your time effectively at University”; c) “How to write scientific essays and reports at University-level”; d) “How to identify optimal scientific sources”; e) “How to present and reference your essays”; f) “How to think on your feet and deliver professional “impromptu” speeches”; g) “How to confidently deliver formal scientific talks and presentations”. This module is intensively taught in the first few weeks of Year 1. Everything you do in this module is designed to help you achieve the best possible experience and grades in all the other modules you will study.

Assessment Criteria

C- to C+

C (50-59%) Mediocre - A clearer understanding of higher education learning skills. Demonstrated ability to analyse information and applying of these skills. Evidence of additional reading and reflective writing skills. Few inaccuracies and misconceptions evident.

good

B (60-69%) Good/Very good - A good understanding of higher education learning skills. Demonstrated abiltiy to analyse information and applying of these skills. Evidence of reading and reflective writing skills. Very few inaccuracies and misconceptions evident.

excellent

A (70-100%) Excellent - An excellent understanding of higher education learning skills. Demonstrated ability to analyse information and are able to apply these skills. Extensive wide reading and reflective writing skills. No inaccuracies and misconceptios evident.

threshold

D (40-49%) Adequate - Basic understanding of higher education learning skills but some errors present. Limited evidence of additional reading and basic reflective writing skills. Some inaccuracies and misconceptions evident.

Learning outcomes

  1. On successful completion of the module students will be able to:

    1. Develop strategies to enable successful completion of assessments in other modules
    1. Read and identify strengths and weaknesses in scientific literature
    1. Disseminate scientific information
    1. Utilise transferable skills to enhance employability

Assessment Methods

Type Name Description Weight
REPORT Scientific Report

This assignment requires you to write a scientific report about a lab practical. This will include an Introduction (establishing a rationale for an experiment and making experimental hypotheses), Methods (precisely reporting what was done in subsections), Results (producing scientific figures and tables) and Discussion (making sense of the results and identifying how they add to extant knowledge). It will provide you with experience of how to produce professional scientific reports at University-level. This sort of assignment will feature frequently across your subsequent modules including your final-year research project. Experiencing this assignment early in your University career will provide you with a key foundation to build upon throughout later years.

 35
ORAL SHEOPS

SHEOPS is a peer-led learning environment in which presentation skills are acquired and developed through practise and feedback. It is designed to help you build confidence, increase your marks in other modules where presentations form part of the assessment, and enhance your employability. Students participate via a combination of speeches, organisational roles and audience participation. All students are assigned to small groups that are timetabled to meet for 1-hour per week throughout semester two. During each 1-hour meeting 4-8 members of the group will deliver individual presentations while the remaining students fulfil a range of important organisational roles (e.g., timekeeper, chair, evaluator) and act as members of the audience. Over the course of the semester you will complete several prepared and impromptu presentations. This will provide vital experience in presenting information is a supportive environment. This assessment will help build confidence in public speaking ahead of more formal scientific presentation assessments that you may encounter on other modules in the later years of your degree.

 35
COURSEWORK Literature search and referencing

This assignment requires you to locate and properly reference scientific resources (e.g., journal articles; textbooks) that will be relevant for your scientific report assignment. This assignment will help you to acquaint yourself with the University’s literature search platforms so that you can access all the scientific resources you will need throughout all the modules of your degree. It will also give you experience of how to reference information using the School’s approved referencing style.

 15
COURSEWORK Module reflection

This assignment requires you to reflect on the knowledge you have acquired during this module. Reflection is a key skill to help consolidate information and appreciate the new skills you have acquired and how they can be of use moving forwards.

 15

Teaching and Learning Strategy

Hours
Lecture 16
Private study 72
Workshop 12

Transferable skills

  • Literacy - Proficiency in reading and writing through a variety of media
  • Numeracy - Proficiency in using numbers at appropriate levels of accuracy
  • Computer Literacy - Proficiency in using a varied range of computer software
  • Self-Management - Able to work unsupervised in an efficient, punctual and structured manner. To examine the outcomes of tasks and events, and judge levels of quality and importance
  • Exploring - Able to investigate, research and consider alternatives
  • Information retrieval - Able to access different and multiple sources of information
  • Inter-personal - Able to question, actively listen, examine given answers and interact sensitevely with others
  • Critical analysis & Problem Solving - Able to deconstruct and analyse problems or complex situations. To find solutions to problems through analyses and exploration of all possibilities using appropriate methods, rescources and creativity.
  • Presentation - Able to clearly present information and explanations to an audience. Through the written or oral mode of communication accurately and concisely.
  • Teamwork - Able to constructively cooperate with others on a common task, and/or be part of a day-to-day working team
  • Argument - Able to put forward, debate and justify an opinion or a course of action, with an individual or in a wider group setting
  • Self-awareness & Reflectivity - Having an awareness of your own strengths, weaknesses, aims and objectives. Able to regularly review, evaluate and reflect upon the performance of yourself and others

Subject specific skills

  • research and assess paradigms, theories, principles, concepts and factual information, and apply such skills in explaining and solving problems
  • critically assess and evaluate data and evidence in the context of research methodologies and data sources
  • describe, synthesise, interpret, analyse and evaluate information and data relevant to a professional or vocational context
  • plan, design, execute and communicate a sustained piece of independent intellectual work, which provides evidence of critical engagement with, and interpretation of, appropriate data
  • apply knowledge to the solution of familiar and unfamiliar problems
  • develop a sustained reasoned argument, perhaps challenging previously held assumptions
  • demonstrate effective written and/or oral communication and presentation skills
  • work effectively independently and with others
  • self-appraise and reflect on practice
  • demonstrate an understanding of the philosophical basis of scientific paradigms
  • demonstrate evidence of competence in the scientific methods of enquiry, and interpretation and analysis of relevant data and statistical outputs.
  • develop transferable skills of relevance to careers outside of sport, health and exercise sciences.
  • communicate succinctly at a level appropriate to different audiences.
  • demonstrate effective robust data collection methods

Resources

Resource implications for students

Module failure that prevents you passing the year will require resit assessment and attendance at Supplementary Assessment Week (exact date TBC but expected to be second week of July 2018)

Talis Reading list

http://readinglists.bangor.ac.uk/modules/jxh-1021.html

Courses including this module

Compulsory in courses:

Optional in courses: