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EDUC3351: Evidence and Education Policy

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Type	Open
Level	3
Credits	20
Availability	Available in 2024/2025
Module Cap	None.
Location	Durham
Department	Education

Prerequisites

None

Corequisites

None

Excluded Combinations of Modules

None

Aims

To develop understanding of the nature and different forms of evidence in education and how these relate to policy

Content

What is education policy and its role in shaping a society? What is the evidence for policy?
Analysis of process of education policy-making and critical engagement with the evidence 'What works'.
Education policy around the world: Comparisons of policy implementation across different countries and their contexts, including policy borrowing and adaption.
Evaluation of education policy in relation to the organisation of education, from classroom practice to structural systems.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

To develop knowledge, skills and understanding related to the targets of education policy and how it is or can be evaluated.
To develop critical understanding of the purposes, strengths and limitations of education policies and methods of their evaluation.
To understand the nature of gaps between evidence and educational policy.

Subject-specific Skills:

In-depth analysis of one education policy

Key Skills:

To develop the understanding of the quality of evidence and be able to distinguish between robust and weak qualities of evidence.
To develop skills for identifying the gaps in policy and high-quality evidence.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

Lectures and Seminars
The summative assessment will be an in-depth analysis of one education policy in any country in the world: outline of policy and analysis of attempts to evaluate it.
The summative assessment for this module consists of a written essay (3000 words) about the evaluation of a selected education policy (outlined in the formative assessment). Students will be given guidance on the assignments as they progress through the module.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity	Number	Duration	Total	Monitored
Lectures	11	1 hour	11	Yes
Seminars	11	2 hours	22	Yes
Private study, reading and research			167
Total			200

Summative Assessment

Component: Assignment		Component Weighting: 100%
Element	Length / Duration	Element Weighting	Resit Opportunity
Assignment	3000 words	100	No

Formative Assessment

A one-page outline of a selected policy and its evaluation (500 words) with headings, sub-headings, bullet points, and references, stating the choice of policy (with rationale) and an outline of the evaluations to be critiqued.

More information

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