Module proposals

Procedure for submitting new module proposals and amendments to existing modules

Proposals for new modules or amendments to existing modules must be submitted to the Consultative and Teaching Committee (CTC). Changes to the title, code, assessment, weighting or syllabus of an existing module are now all treated as module amendments.

When planning a new proposal, consider the following:

Is it in fact an entirely new course or is there an existing module which could be amended?
Does the course fill a gap in existing provision?
Does it complement existing courses?
Is there a possibility of overlap with an existing course (including intercollegiate courses)? If so, consider whether an 'exclusion clause' to prevent students from taking both is needed.
If the course is a substitute for an existing course or course(s), can the old course(s) be withdrawn?
When deciding on a title, choose one that will be meaningful to students and remember that the course details will be stored in the PORTICO database. Very long titles are unwieldy and may not fit easily on the students' transcripts etc.

Proposal form

When proposing a new module, please use the History module proposal form (docx).

Notes on completing the proposal form

Type of course: e.g. undergraduate full- or half-year course, final year special subject, or MA. For full-year courses, please indicate whether the course is intended to be available as an intercollegiate 'Group 2' course. See description of course types for further information on the different kinds of modules taught in the department.
Course description: a short description of the course including its aims and learning outcomes, suitable for use in course description brochures. This should include a 50-100 word summary of course content that will be stored on the PORTICO system.
Overlap: details of any significant overlap with existing courses - within the department, across UCL and courses available within the University of London intercollegiate scheme. Please state whether an 'exclusion clause' preventing students from taking both courses is required.
Prerequisites: details of any prerequisites, such as other courses or languages.
Learning outcomes: for guidance on learning outcomes, please consult the QAA Benchmarking Statement for History (pdf) or Ancient History (pdf).
Assessment: Please refer to the Joint Faculty Assessment Framework information (pdf) with respect to assessment requirements, and formative assessment.
Non-assessed work: details of non-assessed work required, such as presentations and book/article reviews, or gobbet exercises.
Class/seminar topics: for full year undergraduate courses only, state whether the course will be suitable for affiliate students attending for only one term. It is normally expected that full year courses will be available for part-year affiliate students as stand alone modules in term 1 (first half) and term 2 (second half). For full year MA courses only, state whether either or both terms of the course will be suitable to be taken as a 20/15 credit module.
General bibliography: please provide a select general bibliography for the course as a whole (up to one side of A4 will suffice). For final year special subject courses only, please provide a full list of the set texts, with a page count (the norm is around 1,000 pages, depending on the type of texts).
New resources required: e.g. new library acquisitions, computer access, recording equipment etc.

An additional document on module planning is available on the faculty website: Joint Arts & Humanities and Social & Historical Sciences Best Practice Sharing in Assessment (pdf).

Deadlines

All proposals for new undergraduate courses to be taught in the following Academic Year should be submitted to the QA Administrator, Emma Patten, for consideration by the Consultative and Teaching Committee in the Autumn Term in accordance with the following timetable. This is to ensure that the courses are approved in time for details to be circulated before students make their course choices for the following year. Please supply proposals in electronic format as MS Word files, in order to facilitate later copying and pasting into proposal forms, websites etc.

2017-18 deadlines for submission of proposals:

27th October 2017

12th January 2018

Committee dates can be found on the staff calendar.

Proposals for amendments and for new MA modules should if possible be considered in line with the timetable above.

Note: Proposals for courses which are not intended to be taught in the following academic year may be submitted at any time.

Proposers will not need to attend the Consultative and Teaching Committee meeting.

Next steps

After the meeting, the QA Administrator will complete a registry course proposal form and forward a draft to the proposer for checking. The proposal will then be forwarded for External and Faculty approval. The QA Administrator will also seek to obtain formal recognition of courses as intercollegiate 'Group 2' or 'Group 3' courses where applicable.

Further information

Please contact Emma Patten (ext 37124) with any queries.