| Unit name | Understanding global problems using data: inequality, climate change and the economy |
|---|---|
| Unit code | UNIV10008 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | C/4 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Professor. Birdi |
| Open unit status | Open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Centre for Innovation |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
A trailer is available for this unit here.
Why is this unit important?
This unit introduces you to current global problems such as inequality, climate change and global health. We discuss the nature of these issues and examine data and evidence to understand some of their causes, features and potential solutions. Our goal is to try to separate myth and erroneous inferences from reliable and sound conclusions based on evidence. The unit’s importance lies in developing skills and understanding that are increasingly required for active participation and contribution to democracy and civic life.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
This is an open unit which is taken by students from around the University. You will work with your peers from other disciplines and develop a broad set of skills that will complement and extend the knowledge and skills you develop in your discipline.
This unit therefore aims to develop understanding of global challenges such as inequality, climate change, health and economic crises through relevant concepts and through building data literacy. We also introduce you to working with your own data using Excel and to ways of presenting and communicating your work reliably and accurately.
There are no pre-requisites for the unit as it is aimed at students with no prior experience in these topics or in data analysis.
Overview of Content
We look at current global problems and try to understand their causes, implications and some potential solutions. Typical problems we focus on are inequality, climate change and global health or economic issues. Our focus is on these problems primarily at a global level but we also spend time thinking about the local manifestations of these issues with Bristol and South West. Part of the unit discusses policy approaches to these problems.
A key element of the unit is the development of data literacy and the ability to evaluate poor argument and myth from evidence-based conclusions based on sound data. As a result we develop some basic data concepts and build skills in Excel to analyse real-world data first hand.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
You will not only gain good understanding of the causes and implications of the global issues we discuss but you will develop the confidence and understanding to make judgements about news and viewpoints that you will routinely encounter in your everyday life. You will be able to base your own views and arguments on evidence and understand where you can make claims confidently and where there may be insufficient evidence to do so. You will also gain the skills to confidently make presentations on these pressing global concerns.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit students will be able to:
1. Explain key features of current world issues such as global inequality, climate change and health or economic crises pointing to potential causes and solutions.
2. Judge between poor inferences made with insufficient or incorrectly analysed data and good evidence-based inference.
3. Clearly communicate and present data-based arguments on policy questions to academic and general public audiences, using multimedia appropriately.
4. Use Excel to conduct basic data analysis.
The course is concerned with three main topics: inequality, sustainability, and the global economy or health. Throughout the course, we will focus on both global problems and their manifestations within Bristol and the South West.
We teach the unit in two parts using active workshops each week in which there is a mixture of lecture, group working and plenary discussion. We use online resources on Blackboard to support these sessions and office hours. We also make extensive use of Microsoft Teams for online chats for the unit as a whole and for each student group.
The first part of the unit looks at the three global problems described above and tries to understand their causes, their consequences and some possible policy solutions. We use appropriate frameworks and concepts to understand these issues and we focus on data evidence.
The second part of the develops skills in the use of Excel for analysing data at first hand. We use data on inequality, climate change and global economics/health and discuss how to make sense of the data, describe and analyse it and then present the results accurately to a public audience.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare for summative tasks
Each workshop presents the opportunity for working in groups, discussing and solving problems that are directly relevant to the work required in the summative tasks. The preparatory tasks for the workshops are very similar to the work you will be required to produce for the summative assessments and ample feedback is provided to you on this work through the workshops and the Microsoft Teams groups that we use throughout the unit.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
1.Individual Assessment: Written Report (50%) [ILOs 1-3]
The individual assignment will be a written report of 5 A4 pages based on material from the course as a whole
2. Group project: Multimedia Resource (50%) [ILOs 1-4]
The group assignment involves students producing a short multimedia resource such as a video podcast, BBC style news article or a blog analysing material from the unit as a whole.
Some of the key assessment criteria for both assessments revolve around how students are able to communicate their analysis appropriately for a target audience.
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the Centre shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. UNIV10008).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an
assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
