PDP Week

Monday 15 November 2010

PDP (Personal Development and Planning) is a week long series of events, talks and seminars. The Department of Politics runs this week to help students develop, understand and use the skills which they are learning while studying for their degree.

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICS

Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences

 

 

PDP WEEK PROGRAMME

15 - 19 November 2010

 

Note: sessions marked in the Level as “All” are compulsory sessions for all undergraduate and MA students. Sessions marked as “Any” are open to any student at undergraduate or MA level. “1” refers to first-year undergraduates; “2” refers to second-year undergraduates; “3” refers to final-year undergraduates.

 

For those sessions marked “compulsory” it is expected that ALL students in the relevant group should attend, unless they have mitigating circumstances (for which they should provide suitable evidence).  Failure to attend will be treated in the same way as failure to attend class.

 

For all other sessions, sign-up sheets are available in the Politics Office (13AC05) with Jane Bradford.  Note that space is limited for most sessions, so early sign-up is strongly encouraged. More information on these sessions is provided below.

 

Day

Time

Activity

Level

Venue

Session Leaders

Monday

 

9 - 10

Understanding PDP

All (compulsory)

LTE

SU

10 - 1

Problem Solving

Any (max 50)

LTA

SU

1 - 4

Politics Society Activity

Any

Student Common Room

 

1 - 4

Dissertation Supervisions

3 (compulsory)

AC05

All

4 - 5

Researching and Resources:

Harvard Referencing

Any (max 50)

Seminar Room 1, 2nd floor, Library

Catherine Batson

Day

Time

Activity

Level

Venue

Session Leaders

Tuesday

 

10 - 11

Session on Academic Misconduct

MA

EPBL/International Intervention students (compulsory)

All other MA students welcome

72 MS 03

Daniele Alge

10 - 12

Politics Debate

Any (max 80)

43BC02

SU

11- 12

Session of Writing Coursework

MA

EPBL/International Intervention students (compulsory)

All other MA students welcome

72 MS 03

Amanda Lloyd

1 - 5

Understanding Personalities

Any

80MS02

Careers, MD

Groupwork Observation

Wellbeing, MD

Wednesday

 

10 - 12

Pub Quiz with Prizes

Any (max 60)

LTB

JH

Day

Time

Activity

Level

Venue

Session Leaders

Thursday

9 - 11

Essay Writing

Any (max 60)

LTJ

JH

11 - 1

Session on Oral Presentation

All MA students assessed by oral presentation in Law modules (compulsory)

Politics MA students are welcome to attend

80 MS 02

Alistair Morey

12 - 3

Placement Presentations & Placement Talk

1, 2, 3

LTE

LC

3

3 - 5

Guest Speaker Dr Alan Channer and Imad Karam introduce, show and talk about their film 'An African Answer'.

All (compulsory)

02AC01

 

Friday

 

10 - 1

Presentation Skills

Any (max 40)

TB02

MD, JH

2 - 5

Careers Event

2, 3, MA

51AC05

SU, JH, Careers

5 - 7

Drinks Party

All

51AC05

 

 


SESSION DESCRIPTIONS for Sign-up Sessions

 

Problem Solving

 

Students will participate in an exercise that challenges them to think, discuss and negotiate in a team environment.

 

Research and Resources

 

In an interactive session, students will be taught how to avoid plagiarism, reference correctly and construct a bibliography.

 

Politics Debate:

 

This is an opportunity for students to engage in a formal debate on a subject of topical political interest, so practising their debating skills and their powers of persuasion.

 

Understanding Personalities

 

Based on Myer-Briggs, students will discover their own personality type and what it might mean in terms of their own development and future careers.  Early sign-up for this event is essential as students will need to complete an online personality assessment prior to the session.  This will be useful for future job applications and Assessment Centres, which increasingly make use of similar sessions.

 

Groupwork Observation

 

Students will get the chance to understand the dynamics of decision-making and negotiation within a group, as they attempt to find an agreed solution a challenging crisis situation.

 

Pub Quiz with Prizes

 

This session will follow the format of a traditional pub quiz, minus the warm ale.  Students will work in teams to discuss and agree upon answers to a variety of questions covering both academic and topical subjects.

 

Essay Writing

 

This session will introduce students to essay writing, including insights on the most common flaws in student essays.  Students will be advised on and discuss structural and stylistic issues.  There will also be a chance to practice writing essay introductions and have your peers offer constructive feedback.

 

Placement Presentations & Talk

 

Students who took professional and academic placements last academic year will present in small groups on their experiences, before taking questions from fellow students.  This will be of particular interest to those thinking about going on placement.  It is followed by a debriefing session for the placement students.

 

Presentation Skills

 

This is an opportunity for students to practise and develop their presentation skills, with guidance and feedback from staff.

 

Careers Event

 

Students will get the chance to listen to and speak with invited guests working in the field of politics, including the civil service and party politics.

 

Drinks Party

 

This will be a chance for students to relax and talk with staff following the careers event.