MA in History - Learning Outcomes

Educational aims

This taught postgraduate programme in history will:

  • build upon and develop your existing knowledge of, and interest in, history
  • provide you with appropriate training in the techniques of postgraduate study in history
  • enable you to develop your research and analytical skills and upgrade your qualifications.

Learning outcomes

The qualification provides opportunities for you to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, qualities, skills and other attributes in the following areas:

Knowledge and understanding

When you have completed this degree you will have:

  • knowledge and understanding of the broad field of local history in Britain and Ireland between 1750-1950 
  • advanced and critical understanding of key themes in the study of British and Irish local history, including poverty, crime and policing, industrialisation, the family, urban history, religion 
  • critical understanding of the different ways in which local history has been written in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales between 1750 and 1950, and of the distinctive themes and debates apparent in each of these four historiographies 
  • familiarity with the diverse range of sources, both primary and secondary, textual and non-textual, which are used in the study of British and Irish local and regional history and the wide range of methods that can be used to analyse and interpret them 
  • critical understanding of the wide range of methods that can be used to analyse and interpret primary and secondary, textual and non-textual sources.

Cognitive skills

When you have completed this degree you will have:

  • an ability to assess and critique the relevance and persuasiveness of arguments and use them, where appropriate, to frame your own research questions and shape your own scholarly work 
  • an ability to understand, interpret, critique and use, in the writing of local history, a diverse and varied range of historical sources, both primary and secondary, textual and non-textual 
  • an advanced ability to adopt and use, in a critical fashion, methods and approaches for organising and explaining historical data 
  • an ability to construct viable research questions suitable for historical investigation 
  • awareness and understanding of number and statistics as they apply to historical sources and concepts.

Practical and/or professional skills

When you have completed this degree, you will be able to:

  • locate and use archives or other physical repositories for historical source material
  • locate a diverse and comprehensive range of relevant source material, both primary and secondary, in a variety of locations, both physical and online repositories
  • be aware of and employ, where necessary, current ethical standards in the use of historical sources and data (such as oral testimony)

Key skills

When you have completed this degree, you will have an ability to:

  • communicate complex knowledge effectively, through well-written essays and the production of a self-formulated research project 
  • use, in complex and specialised ways, a broad range of online and electronic tools and resources 

Teaching, learning and assessment methods

Teaching and learning
This programme is taught via a range of methods. In Part 1 (A825), printed teaching materials are supplemented by a module website, which hosts additional online materials and a range of other learning support tools. Students are expected to work their way through the printed and online materials with help from a study planner, which outlines their weekly tasks. Each student is assigned a tutor and is a member of a tutor group. The bulk of tuition for the MA will be delivered online and by telephone or email support. This means you will submit assignments and receive tutor feedback electronically, and have opportunities to participate in electronic forums and online OU events. In addition, there will be face-to-face day schools during the course of the MA.
 
Part 2 (A826) is a dissertation module. Students are provided with a module guide and are allocated a tutor and tutor group. Their primary learning task is to submit a 14-16,000 word dissertation on a topic of their choice. In this they are assisted by their tutor, who functions as a research supervisor, and with whom they communicate on a regular basis. Students are expected to direct their own learning by carrying out independent research. If they have problems or encounter obstacles, they can contact their tutor directly, or raise issues within the online tutor group forum or within the wider module forum. Because of the independent nature of study at this level, the tutor group and module forums function largely for queries and general support. Both modules have Day Schools at which students can benefit from a plenary session as well as meet their tutor and tutor group for mutual support and specialist advice and guidance.
 
Assessment
This programme is assessed through written essays. For Part 1, there are four tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) and one end-of-module assessment (EMA). The TMAs vary in length between 2,500 and 5,000 words and are designed to encourage students to engage with the module content. They are also designed to develop the skills of essay writing and, gradually develop student engagement with historical arguments, use of primary sources and independent research. The EMA is in two parts: a research proposal and a research essay. This requires students to think about, and outline, plans for their dissertation, which they undertake in earnest in Part 2. The research essays require students to demonstrate their newly acquired skills of independent research, by asking them to apply it to one aspect of their proposed research topic. By the end of Part 1, students will have been introduced to the basics of local history practice and been encouraged to use this on a project of their own choice, which they intend to pursue in the following module. This enables them to receive high-quality feedback at a crucial stage in the development of their ideas for their dissertation.
 
Part 2 is assessed through the submission of a 14-16,000 word dissertation, which includes three formative TMAs. The first TMA asks students to revise and refine their proposal and timetable for the dissertation whilst the second TMA is a sample chapter. TMA03 asks for another sample of the final dissertation and asks for a reflective essay, regarding the research to date and how that has worked out. The revised proposal obliges students to engage with feedback they received in Part 1. TMA02 and TMA03 encourage students to begin writing early on in the module and enables them to receive feedback before moving on with their research. The reflective commentary encourages them to consider their next research steps and assists them in organising the later part of their research, which is increasingly done independently and without further formal feedback structures.
 
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