Highlights of my degree - Sophie Thorogood
Teaching
Our department has a relaxed and friendly atmosphere and you’ll benefit from small group teaching and plenty of contact with staff. You’ll learn through lectures, seminars, tutorials, field trips and computer-led learning. Seminars complement lectures by encouraging you to explore issues in small group discussion meetings and our first year tutorial system concentrates on study methods and core skills. You’ll have 1-3 teaching hours per module per week and will need to allow for additional hours of private study. You should expect your total workload to average about 40 hours per week during term time.
We aim to develop your skills of analysis and interpretation as well as providing you with a wide range of transferable skills, both practical and intellectual.
You will carry out a large amount of practical work as you complete assignments and put into practice different archaeological and scientific techniques. We frequently employ experiments in our teaching about ancient technologies (eg, flint knapping, pot making, bronze smelting and casting). Everyone completes at least four weeks’ practical work, usually during the first summer vacation, and we have excellent provision of technical equipment for field study, including GPS, total station theodolite and geophysical equipment.
We’re actively engaged in introducing new methods of learning and teaching, including increasing use of interactive computer-based approaches to learning through our virtual learning environment, where the details of all modules are stored in an easily navigable website. You can access detailed information about modules and learning outcomes and interact through activities such as the discussion forums.
Research-led teaching
Research-led teaching ensures lectures are up-to-date and relevant and you will benefit from access to the latest thinking, equipment and resources. All staff teach third year options which are linked to their own interests which include the study of topics as diverse as maritime archaeology and Egyptology. You’ll also be encouraged to participate in research projects and be able to choose dissertation topics that contribute original research to a project.
Academic Support
All students have a Personal Tutor who is available for advice and support throughout your studies. There are also a number of services on campus where you can get advice and information, including the Students' Guild Advice Unit.
Facilities
We have outstanding facilities that include: experimental archaeology laboratories; clean lab with fume cupboards for chemical work; a landscape archaeology project office, complete with giant scanner for maps and plans; microscope room equipped with high-spec microscopes and image processing facilities; a kiln room for ceramics and other experimental purposes; wet labs for artefact and environmental sample processing; sets of high- and low-power teaching microscopes and state-of-the-art surveying equipment (including resistivity equipment, magnetometer, differential and hand-held GPS and total station theodolite and geophysical equipment). We also have extensive reference collections of artefacts, animal bones and plant remains.
Assessment
You must pass your first year assessment in order to progress to the second year, but the results do not count towards your degree classification. For three-year programmes, the assessments in the second and third years contribute to your final degree classification. For four-year programmes the assessments in the second, third and fourth years all contribute to your final degree classification.
Assessment includes formal exams and assessed coursework, including essays and projects as well as practical assignments and field work notebooks. Formal exams contribute about 40 per cent of your overall assessment.
