WORKING AT MASTERS LEVEL: GUIDANCE FOR TRAINEES

The Professional Studies and the Specialist Studies modules are assessed formally at Post Graduate Master’s level through written assignments and contribute to the award of a PASS grade.

You may find the following texts useful for reference:

Denby, N. et al (2008), Master’s Level Study in Education: A guide to success for PGCE students. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Sewell. K. (ed.), (2008) Doing your PGCE at M-Level: A guide for students. London: Sage.

WORKING AT MASTERS’ LEVEL: UNDERSTANDING THE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

The assessment criteria are intended to help you to think about what it means to be working at Master’s level, in terms of the quality and content of your work. You should aim to plan and organise your assignments with these criteria in mind. Try to compare the quality of your own work to that of other students, and to assess the quality of each other’s work. Giving and receiving constructive criticism is an important part of your development as teachers and as ‘M level’ students.

You should draft and edit your assignments before you submit them for formative and summative assessments. Even the most experienced academic writers produce drafts, then refine and edit their work, sometimes with the help of colleagues and critical friends. These processes are essential to checking and refining your work, and will enable you to submit an assignment that meets the criteria for presentation as well as content. (Bear in mind that marks can be lost through poor presentation, inaccurate referencing, and inadequate proof reading).

When you receive feedback from your tutors, reflect on how the comments relate to your work, and again, compare with other students.

Some of the activities suggested below will help you to think critically and constructively about your work, and about achieving M level.

Activities leading to Improvement

For each module at M level, you need to consider the specific assessment criteria that will be used. Use these criteria to think about what it means to be a good or excellent Masters’ level student. How does the quality of your work compare to the work you did at UG degree level, in terms of breadth and depth? What does being ‘critical’ mean at Masters’ level? Find an assignment you did at degree level (if you still have one) and assess it in the light of the M level criteria: what areas do you need to improve?

Identify two strengths and two areas to improve from your past academic work: how do you aim to improve during the programme? Who, or what do you need to help you to improve?

The Specialist Directed Tasks will support you in improving your academic work by asking you to assess the quality of journal articles both individually and in groups. Further to this you can continue to assess the quality of the journal articles that you read. What makes it a good piece of academic work? In what ways does it meet the Distinction criteria outlined in the M level criteria for your Specialist Assignment?

The qualities of M level work

These are some of the features of the qualities of masters’ work:

  • Assignments show clear application of ideas from the module, relating, where relevant, to theory, policy and practice.
  • Students extend the content of the modules through their wider reading and research.
  • Students use the brief given for the assignment. (It is crucial to read and use the assignment brief and then to check your work to see how far you have met the requirements).

PRESENTATION

  • The best assignments are well-structured, with a clear, logical flow between ideas and between sections. Students use headings and sub-headings to ‘signpost’ the content, and make effective use of paragraphs to develop the overall argument.
  • The best assignments include careful use of referencing in terms of citing, quoting and referring to particular sources to back up an idea, challenge an idea or to point to new ideas, theories or policy developments. All citations in the text are fully referenced (including website addresses, and the date on which these were accessed).
  • Students pay careful attention to presentation, including spelling and grammar, layout, visual aids (tables, graphs etc), and presentation of the references.

All work to be presented using font size 12 and 1.5 line spacing. Please put your names on all formative assignments but only your student number on summative assignments.

LANGUAGE

The best assignments are written with authority and confidence, using accurate terms, clear explanations of key ideas and concepts, justifications for choices, and a discursive vocabulary (clear introduction; building and sustaining an argument; acknowledging tensions, dilemmas, inconsistencies etc; presenting a clear and decisive conclusion).

Critical analysis, evaluation and insight

The best assignments include evaluation of contrasting standpoints and commentaries, as well as critical analysis. Assignments at Merit and Distinction levels include subtle and thoughtful insights about key ideas, which can include theory, policy and practice, as well as the wider ethical and socio-political dimensions of education.

The critique goes beyond the content of the module, using relevant reading as well as critical evaluation of personal experience, values and beliefs. The critique draws on relevant references to substantiate and illuminate arguments. Students may use their own relevant experiences as part of the critique.

Referencing and sources used

The best assignments refer to ideas and concepts in the module, such as research evidence, theoretical papers, policy, scholarship. Students synthesise contrasting perspectives and apply these to the focus of the assignment.

The best assignments include references from literature recommended for the module in conjunction with other sources. These are used in critical ways to explore and illuminate key ideas.

Sources include journal articles as well as books, policy papers, curriculum documents (NOT Wikipedia).

ACADEMIC LEVEL

The academic level combines elements of the previous categories. The overall quality of the writing is confident and authoritative, with personal insights that are supported by relevant research evidence, theory, policy and concise examples from practice. Such examples are used intelligently to illustrate key ideas.

READING EFFICIENTLY AND CRITICALLY

The sources that you use can include journal articles, text books, research reports, policy documents and a range of web-based sources. Journal articles can give you a ‘snapshot’ of a research project, or a policy critique, or a position paper that includes theoretical or methodological developments. Articles often assume a certain level of specialist knowledge that enables you to locate the paper within a wider field of enquiry. Effective use of search engines can produce relevant articles in your own area of enquiry so that you can compare and contrast perspectives.

Text books can include professional guides on pedagogy, curriculum and assessment, as well as more detailed reports of research, or position papers within a specific field. Whatever you are reading, use the contents page and index judiciously – do not get bogged down in too much detailed reading. Try to synthesise and summarise the main ideas, perhaps using focused quotations to support and develop your argument. It may be useful to use a concept map during the writing phase to note key issues, links between them, and ‘directions of travel’ in a particular field.

Be aware of any tendency to generalise. For example, a study of a small number of children or teachers may illuminate a particular issue, but cannot be generalised to wider populations. Note the limitations of any study in terms of the sample, the methods used and the claims that are made.

Just because something is in print in the academic domain does not make it an inviolable truth. Being a critical reader means being aware of the author’s position, and possible bias. In empirical research, the reader needs to be critical about the choices that have been made about the sample, the research design, how the findings are presented, and what claims are made from the findings (e.g. implications for professional knowledge and practice). You may need to read a number of similar papers in a specific area in order to build a more rounded picture of current debates, trends, and professional implications.

Try out some of these techniques with colleagues. A useful exercise is for a group of people to read the same article and compare their responses and insights. This helps you to understand your own ‘lens’ and any bias you may have in reading and interpreting research.

KEEPING A PAPER TRAIL

Keep a record of all the sources you have used, and make sure that you are diligent about noting the full bibliographic details. Be diligent about noting the page number of quotations – it is very time inefficient to have to go back to a source to find this. Your bibliography should develop as you write.