MA History

Year of entry: 2024

Course unit details:
Placement in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine

Course unit fact file
Unit code HSTM60732
Credit rating 30
Unit level FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree
Teaching period(s) Semester 2
Available as a free choice unit? No

Overview

Students will spend a minimum of twenty days working with a placement organisation, undertaking tasks to meet a set of objectives which will be negotiated beforehand by the placement organisation and placement organiser (also module lead) at CHSTM.

Placements will be allocated on the basis of student selection, following their description in the unit handbook that will be distributed mid-way through semester one. Students will be assigned a designated work place supervisor within the placement organisation, who will provide mentoring and feedback.

The module lead or another member of CHSTM staff (i.e. someone with relevant expertise or links to the placement organisation) will also act as the placement tutor and will schedule two mandatory one-to-one meetings during the course of the unit: one to check the student has started their placement and knows what they are doing; the other to discuss preparing the essay reflecting on their placement. These meetings will support monitoring and feedback on progress as well as on the development of assessment objectives.

Aims

The unit aims to provide:
  • direct experience of a professional working environment through a placement with an organisation from the heritage, charitable or policymaking sectors.
  • practical experience and understanding of the application of the history of science, technology and medicine (HSTM) outside academia
  • enhanced vocational and transferable skills, with the opportunity for students to reflect on their own career development and appreciate the opportunities, constraints and processes of different working environments
  • an opportunity to reflect on the dissemination and application of HSTM in a public and/or policy context.

Assessment methods

Written plan of placement project    25%
Written reflection on aims and outcomes    75%
 

Feedback methods

The module lead or another member of CHSTM staff (i.e. someone with relevant expertise or links to the placement organisation) will act as the placement tutor and will schedule two mandatory one-to-one meetings during the course of the unit: one to check the student has started their placement and knows what they are doing; the other to discuss preparing the essay reflecting on their placement. These meetings will support monitoring and feedback on progress as well as on the development of assessment objectives. 

Detailed written feedback from primary assessor. 

Study hours

Independent study hours
Independent study 300

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Duncan Wilson Unit coordinator

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