Admission requirements
Mandatory course for students enrolled in the bachelor’s programme Security Studies.
Description
The skills labs courses in year 1 of the bachelor program Security Studies aim to train both academic and professional skills. In Skills Lab 1 the focus is on developing learning skills and familiarizing students with academic ways of working and thinking. Students will learn the basics of academic reading and writing, and will practice their public speaking, presentation and debating skills. The skills labs are highly interactive and require students to actively participate in a wide variety of in class exercises.
Through the Explore-Understand-Do method Skills Lab 1 also aims to bring about a deeper understanding of the corresponding core course ‘Introduction to Safety and Security’ by explaining, discussing and practicing the course content.
In the skills lab 1 sessions students will become familiar with the entire program, the department staff and her/his fellow students and will be able to find his/her way well within the university. Each student will have a mentor meeting with her/his tutor.
Various assignments will be used to monitor and assess the students’ skills development and study progress. Students will regularly discuss and reflect on their progress with each other and their tutor.
Course objectives
At the end of the course students will be able to:
Trace the structure of academic papers, identify the research question and summarize the core arguments of academic writings;
Use in-text citations and create a bibliography;
Differentiate between academic, non-academic and grey literature;
Recognize the ethical standards held by the academic community;
Apply critical thinking, teamwork, presentation and public speaking skills to explore and understand safety and security challenges;
Define and apply core concepts of the corresponding course ‘Introduction into Security and Safety’; and
Distinguish between the disciplines used in the program to study safety and security.
Timetable
On the right side of programme front page of the E-guide Bachelor Security Studies you will find links to the website and timetables, uSis and Blackboard.
Mode of instruction
14 lab sessions, including various active teaching methods.
Attendance is mandatory. Missing more than 3 sessions will lead to a fail.
Course Load
Total study load of 140 hours
Lab hours: 42
Self-study hours: 98
Assessment method
- 15% Overall participation in the Skills Labs including preparation and contribution to discussion
- 15% Written assignment I
- 30% Written assignment II
- 20% Academic poster assignment
- 20% Individual presentation assignment
All assignments will be collected in a portfolio which makes up for 100% of the grade.
The calculated grade of all portfolio assignments has to be at least 5.50 in order to pass the course.
Attendance is mandatory. Missing more than 3 sessions will lead to a fail.
In case of a fail, no grades will be given, only a fail. This implies that a resit will not lead to a pass.
Resit
Students will be permitted a resit if they have a grade lower than 5.50 for the portfolio or with permission of the Board of Examiners. Resit will consist of an alternative assignment to compensate for one or maximum two failed assignments of the portfolio. Due to its nature it is impossible to resit the 15% participation grade. Only this partial grade should be compensated.
Transitional Arrangement
Students who participated in the course “Skills Lab 1” in academic year 2018-2019 but did not manage to pass the course should fully participate in all elements of Skills Lab 1 in year 2019-2020. It is not possible to transfer grades between labs and years. This means that all the 2018-2019 constituent grades (both passed and failed) for students who did not successfully pass the course, are no longer valid for the academic year 2019-2020. These students will have to participate in all elements of the course, including those that were previously a pass.
Blackboard
Course page will be available one week in advance.
Reading list
To be announced on Blackboard.
Registration
Use both uSis and Blackboard to register for every course.
Register for every course and workgroup via uSis. Some courses and workgroups have a limited number of participants, so register on time (before the course starts). In uSis you can access your personal schedule and view your results. Registration in uSis is possible from four weeks before the start of the course.
Also register for every course in Blackboard. Important information about the course is posted there.
Contact
Course coordinator drs. Celesta Kofman c.j.kofman@fgga.leidenuniv.nl