Independent Supervised Study

EDUC66012 Independent Supervised Study 15 Postgraduate Taught Level 6 Education 1 FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Masters/Integrated Masters P4 ' European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 7.5 Independent Supervised Study & Client-Based Projects Either 15 or 30 credits of taught optional course units can be substituted by a period of Independent Supervised Study (ISS) or a Client-Based Project (CBP). These are briefly discussed here. More detail, for CBPs particularly, is at <a href="http://www.madigitaltechnologies.com/">http://www.MAdigitaltechnologies.com</a> and anyone considering doing such a project should read those pages carefully. We recognise that our portfolio of course units will not necessarily meet everyone’s requirements. There are two ways in which you can engage in a project which might more directly meet certain employment needs or other interests not otherwise catered for on the DTCE programmes. Independent Supervised Study enables you, in consultation with a supervisor, to design a “mini-course” with its own learning objectives and assessment – usually an essay, but not always. Usually this is done when you have a specialist interest which we cannot otherwise cater for. For instance, a student recently designed an ISS that allowed her to look into the work which had been done on using digital technologies to help adults who lacked basic literacy skills. No such unit was available anywhere in the school, but this gave her the opportunity to design her own. (60 credit ISSs are not available, but this is simply because your final dissertation serves the same purpose.) Client-Based Projects involve students working as teaching or development assistants with "clients" who may be staff members of the MA: DTCE, other teaching staff in the School of Education, their own employing organisation, a school or college in their locality or any other organisation which agrees to participate. They will work with the client to assess a problem or other context in which some kind of intervention is required, whether this be a new technological tool, a new way of working, a new approach to communication, etc. The intervention will then be designed, tested or piloted, implemented and evaluated. CBPs are also available in 60-credit form, as the Mode B dissertation.  Please bear the following in mind if you are interested in undertaking an ISS or CBP:•        Neither is recommended for students in their very first semester of study (thus, if you are a full-time student, you would only be able to do one in semester 2).•        A maximum of one period of ISS and one period of CBP can be done as part of your degree. A 30-credit ISS/CBP must be a single project, not two 15-credit ones. Note that if you do a smaller CBP earlier in the degree you will then be unable to do a Mode B dissertation.•        You can be part of a team which completes the actual work: it does not have to be a “solo” project. It may be possible to collaborate with another student on the same project, but please discuss this with us in advance.•        ISSs and CBPs are particularly suited to being completed in the summer months, which can help spread your workload out more evenly through the course: see the sample timetable for distance learning students below.•        Contact the Programme Director in the first instance if interested. Particularly with CBPs, you are advised to start discussions very early, as for various reasons these can be complicated to sort out with respect to the ways the university has to work administratively.   0