Admission requirements
Only third year students who have completed their first and second year courses from:
Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology,
Education and Child Studies,
Political Science,
Psychology,
Public Administration Science
Description
This course is intended to prepare students for their future profession by offering them the opportunity to gain experience in a real-life consultancy case as a backdrop to training for 21st century skills. Collaborating on an actual time-limited project, students are stimulated to explore and develop their own personal and professional purposes while developing transferable skills and competence.
Personal and Professional Impact is the first multidisciplinary elective that brings together students from all four institutes of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. The course is focused on competence development (in particular transferrable skills) and consists of two interconnected parts:
Practising individual skills: students assess their own competence and reflect on their role in the project team, their progress during the course and their personal and professional goals for the future. They do so individually but with professional support from experienced coaches.
Practising professional skills in small interdisciplinary project teams of five from different disciplines, students will apply social scientific knowledge and academic skills to real-life consultancy cases.
The course offers students the opportunity to explore their impact on society by solving a contemporary challenge presented by a public service organization. In parallel they will reflect on their personal development and goals for the future.
The organizations involved hope to benefit from research capabilities and knowledge from four different academic disciplines. The project groups translate the challenge into research questions and write team-project proposals to make use of their combined strengths. Based on a clear division of tasks and responsibilities the project groups will conduct research, write reports and present their findings to the organizations. Throughout the process students will take part in workshops to facilitate their own development plans and future goals.
Workshops held during the course will address the topics of: personal and professional purpose; collaboration, applied research, project management, self-reflection, communication and presentation skills. Students will make use of their previously accumulated academic skills and select literature that supports the content of their project scientifically.
Course objectives
On successful completion of the course students will be able to:
Combine and align application of academic skills with personal and professional objectives.
Apply scientific knowledge to solve societal challenges.
Combine knowledge of different social and behavioural sciences by working in a multidisciplinary team.
Adequately perform the steps of a real-life consultancy case, namely:
1 Critical assessment of a current societal challenge;
2 Formulation of a project proposal;
3 Conduction of applied research;
4 Presentation of findings in a report and in person to an audience of academics, other students and stakeholders.
Timetable
All lectures and workgroups will be on Thursdays, from 20 September until 13 December.
Time: 16:00-19:00.
Room: announced on Blackboard.
Mode of instruction
Blended learning workshops (online preparation- & post-hoc reflection); Lectures, individual coaching and a final meeting with presentations and a closing ceremony.
All sessions are mandatory with no possibility to compensate. Advance commitment is required to all scheduled times and dates. Absence will result in lower grade or even exclusion from the course.
Course load
Total 5 ECTS = 140 study hours (sbu):
Lectures, workshops and final meeting: 33 hours;
Research and preparation for workshops: … hours;
Writing an individual reflection report: … hours;
Writing the final group report and preparing the presentation: … hours.
Assessment method
Participation 10%
Presentation 10%
Individual Personal Impact Report 40%
Group Professiobal Impact Report 40%
Final grade
To successfully complete the course, please take note of the following:
The final grade of the course is established through a weighted average of the four different parts mentioned under ‘Assessment method’.
The weighted average should be 5.5 or higher.
Resit
In January 2019.
Registration
Students will be selected after submitting a short survey including a motivation statement. To ensure the multidisciplinary nature of this course 10 students from each discipline will be admitted, making a total of 40. The course ‘Personal and Professional Impact’ offers 8 possible consultancy projects. Based on students’ particular interests and the desired mixture of students per team, students will be assigned to a specific project. Students do not have to register in uSis.
Blackboard
Students who have been granted admission must register for this course on Blackboard.
Reading list
The course guide and readings will be made available through Blackboard.
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Not applicable.
Contact information