Course Catalogue

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To complete the Digital Society MSc, students enrolled in the programme will be able to submit an Independent Study Portfolio as their final work. The Independent Study Portfolio consists of four connected parts: the design of practical project to be carried out by the student in a non-academic environment (15%), the implementation of the proposed work (15%), the outcomes of the project (a piece of artistic work, a campaign, solution for an organisational problem etc.- 40%) and a supporting report in which the ways in which digitalisation is used, questioned, interpreted through the project (30%).

Both the practical component and the supporting reflective report will be discussed with, and require final approval from, the Programme Lead. Assessment of the practical component and supporting reflective report will also draw from expertise of non-academic partners working in relevant fields. Rigour and appropriate assessment will be insured though a clear set of previously established criteria.

Some links with external non-academic experts and suitable practitioners exist. Agreements about student support have not been established yet.  

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The semester I core courses in the Digital Society MSc, namely Theory and Substantive Issues (SOCIO 5103), Practicing Research and Working with Data in the Digital Age (SOCIO 5102) need to be completed as a condition of enrolment to the Independent Study Portfolio. Additionally, students who enrol to the Independent Study Portfolio must also enrol in the semester II core course The Living Lab (SOCIO 5104).

The mark for the portfolio will be based firstly on the quality, creativity and/or effectiveness of the practical work (e.g. technological, artistic, entrepreneurial, political etc.) in the broad area of digital society. This will be evaluated by the non-academic experts with whom the programme aims to cooperate.

The Independent Study Portfolio consists of four connected parts: the design of practical project to be carried out by the student in a non-academic environment (15%), the implementation of the proposed work (15%), the outcomes of the project (a piece of artistic work, a campaign, solution for an organisational problem etc.- 40%) and a supporting report in which the ways in which digitalisation is used, questioned, interpreted through the project (30%).

The quality of the final report will be assessed by the academic staff. The maximum length of the final report is 15,000 words.

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

The project aims to give students the confidence and freedom to work creatively on issues related to social transformations in the digital age. Students may find non-academic ways to understand and reflect on the experience of being directly and actively engaged with digitalization in an organization; they may work alongside producers of digital technology, or end users in different contexts, and they may explore potential routes for technologically informed social change. Alternatively, students may carry out projects of awareness-raising about the challenges of digitalization or reflect on these challenges through artistic work.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Demonstrate extensive and integrated knowledge of practices of living and working in digital times.

■ Identify, conceptualise and define new and abstract issues derived from the rapid process of digitalization.

■ Apply critical evaluation and synthesis to socio-technical change by planning and executing a project of research, investigation or practical development.

■ Exercise substantial autonomy and initiative in professional and equivalent activities linked with their project.

■ Communicate the goals and the outcomes of their independent study, using appropriate methods with academic and non-academic audiences and peers.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components of the course's summative assessment.