No set texts. Part of the portfolio analysis will be the need for students to identify the resources utilised.

Access to appropriate texts
Module Study Guide
Portfolio Guidance
Computing facilities for accessing material on the web

The contact hours

These will largely take the form of student-centred workshops in which short, tutor presentations will be followed by a variety of group-work and role-play activities, combined with regular plenary sessions. The contact hours will be confined to the intensive accelerated learning stage of the course. Consequently, students will not be expected to have prepared work in advance of the workshops. Incorporated into the sessions will be suggestions and guidance as to how the portfolio required for the assessment might be developed.

30 hours

Independent study hours

Students will be expected to undertake significant independent work in preparation for the activities leading up to, and in connection with the construction of, their portfolios of evidence. They will be drawing on past experience, the experience of the accelerated learning and their experiences thereafter during the period leading up to the submission of the portfolio, to collate evidence demonstrating that they have achieved the outcomes. This might take the form of observing and analysing the performance of others either directly, or indirectly, via the media, in relation to the skills, and drawing on their own experiences in a variety of situations. They will be expected to research and access a range of sources to achieve the outcomes.

120 hours

This module includes PDP, Effective Communication, Interviewing Techniques, Negotiation Techniques and Writing Skills. It:

a) builds on the skills developed by students in the SKiLLS module at Certificate level,
b) increases the employability of students,
c) helps students to appreciate their skills and to utilise these to continue to develop throughout intermediate and higher level and thereafter in either the employment market or postgraduate professional study,
d) facilitates more effective performance by the students on all modules and particularly the Street Law and Work Experience modules.

The module will commence with 30 hours of workshops, contained within the accelerated learning stage of the course, during which the students will explore with the tutor the main areas of the syllabus for this module. Students will develop their use of PDP and associated skills first encountered in the SkiLLs module. They will learn and apply a range of communication techniques (including presentations, meetings, telephone communications and advocacy) and how to use those to best effect. Interviewing techniques will be learned both from the perspective of how to interview and how to be interviewed, building on the Career Planning module. Students will also explore a range of negotiation styles and strategies to enable them to become effective negotiators. Writing skills will be developed in a range of contexts, such as writing e-mails and letters, together also with the facility to develop an appreciation of how to adapt those writing skills to suit both the reader and circumstances. Students will also consider the development of strategies and techniques for effective writing and more formal drafting. All of these skills will be developed in both legal and non-legal situations, drawing on both the past experiences of the students and their analysis of events arising during their period of independent study.

All four outcomes will be assessed by means of a portfolio of evidence analysing situations in which the students have applied the outcomes and containing their reflections on this body of evidence and their wider reading.