(Award available for year: Master of Science)
By the end of this degree, students will be able to:
1. Explain why/how the climate system is changing and the possible consequences of different policy and political approaches to climate action.
2. Critically interpret different climate concepts and information sources, and use research methods and communication techniques appropriate for addressing interdisciplinary climate challenges.
3. Evaluate a range of perspectives on climate change and the consequences of these different positions for the natural and social world.
4. Demonstrate key skills in collaboration and problem solving in teams to address climate challenges.
5. Reflect on personal values, perspectives & capabilities, and the roles each individual wants to play to address climate change.
Competence Standards
1. Employ techniques at the forefront of more than one discipline investigating climate change.
2. Construct defensible conclusions from information and data on climate change.
3. Identify the influence of position, perspective and experience on attitudes towards and actions taken on climate change.
4. Effectively collaborate with peers or interested parties to produce work addressing climate change with appropriate support as required
5.Effectively communicate information on climate change to a range of audiences.
Learners will develop and learn to identify and reflect upon their own strengths in an interdisciplinary framework, equipping them with the flexibility and agility required to navigate a broad array of roles.
In concurrence with the Learning Objectives listed above, learners will be supported to identify their strengths and weaknesses and to further develop a wide range of skills, guided by the Leeds Skills Matrix. The Matrix focuses on six key areas:
“Academic Skills” including critical thinking, quantitative and text-based research methods, referencing and communication of complex ideas to different audiences;
“Sustainability Skills” guided by UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development competencies which emphasise the importance of understanding the needs of others, developing inclusive and equitable solutions, analysing complex systems, questioning the status quo and persuasively communicating alternatives;
“Work Ready Skills” including problem-solving, written and oral presentation skills, teamwork and adaptability;
“Digital Skills” including creativity, communication, collaboration, critical evaluation;
“Enterprise Skills” including recognising opportunities and coping with risk and uncertainty; and, finally;
“Technical Skills” including data collection, analysis and dissemination.
By the end of this degree, students will have developed:
1. Academic skills: Presentation skills, academic language, critical thinking, reflection, academic writing, information searching, academic integrity, referencing
2. Sustainability skills: information searching, critical thinking, collaboration, integrated problem-solving, effective communication
3. Work Ready skills: Core literacies, Problem solving and analytical skills, Technical/IT skills, teamwork/collaboration; communication, critical thinking
4. Digital skills: Digital creation, problem-solving and innovation, Information, data and media literacies
5. Enterprise skills: Information searching, working and communicating with others
Students will be assessed formatively and summatively using a broad range of methods.
Each assessment has been carefully designed to provide learners with diverse opportunities to develop and demonstrate key transferrable skills that will prepare them for their future lives and careers, whilst gaining deeper insights into the topics being discussed in each module. The assessments across the programme draw upon knowledge and methodologies from multiple disciplines and so will require students to synthesise and translate evidence from a variety of sources. For example, within the module on Climate Risk, students will be asked to produce a risk analysis of a climate-related topic of their choice before critically reflecting on their analysis. This will include drawing from numerical climate model output, observational data, and the social sciences of communication to produce an infographic to summarise and convey a complex scientific principle to their intended audience. This not only increases learners’ capacity to perform an “authentic” task which is commonly found in the workplace (e.g. a rapid review or briefing note), but also to hone their transferrable skills of critical thinking and reflection.
Assessments will include flexibility to allow learners to adapt the work to their strengths and personal development aspirations, providing choice in assignment content and style while keeping the assignment goals meaningful and relevant to their future careers. The transdisciplinarity aims of the course implies flexibility in teaching content. Student choice for assessment content and delivery style culminates in the Capstone Project, which will be flexible format and enables students to pursue topics relating to personal interests as well as employer demand.
There is a strong emphasis on developing team working and collaboration skills, reflecting feedback received from potential employers. This will be supported through specific training (e.g. Peer Assisted Study/Learning; ‘PASS’/’PAL’) to establish best teamwork practice (e.g. mutual respect, compassionate group work, leadership) early in the course so that learners are well positioned to complete their module team assessments, all culminating in the capstone team output. Fair assessment will be ensured by assessing individual submissions of contributions to teamwork, and will include peer-assessment. When individuals are required to re-sit a team assignment, this will take the form of individual submissions, often reflective, which directly relate to the original objectives and format of the teamwork and where demonstration of collaboration skills is explicit in the assessment rubric.
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team