TQF Document No. 3 (Course Specification)

Course Specification forEG417

SEMINAR IN CURRENT ISSUES

InstitutionThammasat University
Campus / Faculty / DepartmentRangsit Campus/Faculty of Liberal Arts; Department of English

Section 1 General Information

1. Course Code and Course Title
EG 417 SEMINAR IN CURRENT ISSUES
2. Number of credits
3 credits (3-0-9)
3. Program
BA in English
4. Course Administrator / Lecturer
Dr. Melada Sudajit-apa Chair of the English Department
Lecturers
Simon Stewart
5. Semester / Student’s Year or Batch
Semester2/ 2013 English Majors/Mixed
6. Pre-requisite
7. Co-requisite
None
8. Classroom
SC Bldg,Thammasat University, Rangsit Campus
9. Date of documentation writing
Jan 20th, 2014

Section 2: Goals and Objectives

1. Course Objectives
  1. To bring the major issues facing the global community to the student’s attention.
  2. To show students a variety of ways of dealing with and looking at current problems and issues.
  3. To inform students about the underlying complexity of a number of problems in the global arena.
  4. To provide students with an understanding of the way global current affairs are often interrelated.
  5. To examine the role of current affairs in the 21st Century
  6. To further develop the listening and speaking skills of students at an advanced level
  7. To improve the students confidence, experience and ability in conducting high-level discussions in an academic forum

2. Rationale for developing or revising the course
To meet TQF requirements and to improve learning outcomes particularly those concerning ethical and disciplinary issues, body of knowledge, intellectual skills, interpersonal skills, communication and information technology skills.

Section 3: Course Description and administration

1. Course Description
An examination of major issues in current domestic or international news to develop communication skills and to foster critical thinking. Topics that will be addressed by the seminar will range from social and cultural issues, economic and political issues, to current issues in the scientific and technological fields.
2. Number of teaching hours per semester
Lecturer / Extra classes or supervision / Practicum or field
work / Self study
48 hours /semester / By appointment / Subject to individual needs / None / 6 hours/ week
3. Number of hours of academic supervision/discussion per student
6 hours a week

Section 4: Expected Learning Outcomes

1. Ethical outcomes
1.1 Ethical and disciplinary issues
1.1.1 Students have self-awareness and take full responsibility of what they have done for themselves and society.
1.1.2 Students respect others’ rights and opinions.
1.1.3 Students have self-discipline and punctuality, follow and perform codes of conduct.
1.1.4 Students develop honesty and academic ethics
1.2 Teaching methods
1.2.1 Discussion on academic ethics such as plagiarism and punctuality and other ethical issues.
1.3 Evaluation
1.3.1 Observation of students’ learning progress
1.3.2 Class discussion
1.3.3Final project
2.Knowledge outcomes
2.1 Expected knowledge
2.1.1 Students develop full understanding of the English language and
related disciplines.
2.1.2 Students are able to do further research to gain extra knowledge
effectively on their own.
2.2 Teaching methods
2.2.1 Discussion
2.2.2 Students lead class discussions on certain topics.
2.2.3 Oral presentation
2.3 Evaluation
2.3.1 Observation of students’ learning progress
2.3.2 Group work
2.3.3 Discussion leader
2.3.4 Final project
2.3.5 Midterm and final exams
3. Intellectual outcomes
3.1Expected intellectual skills
3.1.1 Students are able to compile, analyze and synthesize knowledge
from different sources properly.
3.1.2 Students are able to apply the knowledge learnt to their
communication, analysis, criticism and problem solving, and to
accomplish the assignments efficiently.
3.2 Teaching methods
3.2.1 Discussion
3.2.2 Discussion leader
3.2.3 Oral presentation
3.2.4 Group work
3.3 Assessment
3.3.1 Observation of students’ learning progress
3.3.2 Class work
3.3.3 Discussion leader
3.3.4 Final project
3.3.5 Midterm and final exams
4.Interpersonal outcomes
4.1 Interpersonal skills
4.1.1 Students are able to accomplish the assigned tasks, fulfill their
role properly in their team, contribute to others’ work, and
solve their team problems.
4.2 Teaching methods
4.2.1 Discussion
4.2.2 Each student leads class discussions on certain topics.
4.2.3 Oral presentation
4.3 Assessment
4.3.1 Observation of students’ learning progress
4.3.2 Discussion leader
4.3.3 Class discussion
5. Communication, numeral analysis and information technology outcomes
5.1Communication, numeral analysis, and IT skills
5.1.1 .Students are able to communicate in English effectively and properly in a given context.
5.1.2 Students are able to use different forms of IT tools appropriately to assist learning and researching, and to give presentations.
5.2 Teaching methods
5.2.1 Lecture and discussion
5.2.2 Oral presentation
5.2.3 Discussion leader
5.3 Assessment
5.3.1 Class discussion
5.3.2 Group work
5.3.3 Discussion leader
5.3.4 Final project

Section 5: Study Plan and Assessment

1. Course Schedule
Week / Topic / Content / No. of hours / Activities / Guest Lecturer
(if any)
1 / Introduction to course
Expectations for students
Review of basic principles of English / 3 / Class discussion
Lecture
2 / Introduction to Socratic seminars / 3 / Class discussion
3 / Introduction to current issues / 3 / Class discussion
Workshop
4 / International issues / 3 / Class discussion
Group work
Individual assignment
5 / Local issues / 3 / Class discussion
Group work
6 / Student led Socratic seminar / 3 / Class discussion
Group work
Individual assignment
7 / Demonstration of Socratic seminar / 3 / Class discussion
8 / Student led Socratic seminar / 3 / Class discussion
Individual class work
9 / Student led Socratic seminar / 3 / Class discussion
Individual class work
10 / Student led Socratic seminar / 3 / Class discussion
Individual class work
11 / Student led Socratic seminar / 3 / Class discussion
Individual class work
12 / Student led Socratic seminar / 3 / Class discussion
Group work
13 / Student led Socratic seminar / 3 / Class discussion
Group work
14 / Student led Socratic seminar / 3 / Class discussion
Group work
15 / Student led Socratic seminar / 3 / Class discussion
Group work
2. Assessment
Relevant learning outcomes from Section 4 / Assessment activities or methods / Time to be assessed / Proportion of assessment
1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.3,
1.1.4, 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.3, 4.1.1, 4.1.2, 4.1.3, 4.1.4, 5.1.1, 5.1.2, 5.1.3, 5.1.4 / Classwork (2 seminars for each students and student participation) / Whole semester / 80
1.1.3, 1.1.4, 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 3.1.3 / Feedback / March 2014 / 10
1.1.3, 1.1.4, 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 3.1.3 / Attendance / March 2014 / 10

Section 6: Teaching and Learning Resources

1. Main texts
2. Required readings
3. Supplementary or extra readings
  1. Other resources (e.g. websites)

Section 7: Evaluation and revision of Course Specification (TQF 3)

1