Educational aims
This is a wide-ranging programme of study across the arts and humanities which aims to provide you with the flexibility to choose modules from different subject areas or, if you prefer, to specialise in one subject.
In addition, the programme will provide you with:
- a thorough grounding in the arts and humanities to diploma level
- the development and consolidation of skills of analysis, argument and expression in the arts and humanities
- the ability to communicate ideas clearly, including writing well-argued essays and work in formal examinations, and to use feedback to reflect constructively on your learning
- an introduction to the different ways of approaching your subject, if you choose a specialism
- an awareness of the transferable skills you have gained in the process of studying the arts and humanities to diploma level, and a sense of how these skills might serve you in future study and in building your career as appropriate.
Learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
On completion of the diploma, you will be able to:
- draw on your study of different subject areas in order to understand texts, objects, languages, cultures and histories
- understand and use key terms, concepts and approaches from different subject areas (such as art history, classical studies, creative writing, English literature, history, modern languages, music, philosophy and religious studies)
- recognise how the study of the arts and humanities is relevant to issues of ethical, social and public concern.
Cognitive skills
On completion of the diploma, you will be able to:
- synthesise information from different sources and communicate it clearly
- engage critically with familiar and unfamiliar points of view
- draw appropriate conclusions based on different kinds of evidence and argument
- take an evaluative approach to your study and writing.
Practical and/or professional skills
On completion of the diploma, you will have developed and demonstrated:
- diploma-level skills of reading, note-taking and writing
- the ability to synthesise and communicate information
- the confidence to work as an independent learner and an awareness of your own transferable skills.
Key skills
On completion of the diploma, you will be able to:
- use the methods of different subject areas to understand texts, objects, languages, cultures and histories
- communicate ideas clearly, appropriate to your subject, purpose and audience
- follow good academic practices, for example by using appropriate referencing
- select and use online tools to further your learning in different subject areas
- draw on skills in information literacy, for example to find and critically evaluate information found online.
Teaching, learning and assessment methods
Your learning will be through exposure to and discussion of texts, reproductions of works of art (including works of music), and reproductions of different sorts of historical evidence. The study materials may be in a variety of media, but will incorporate questions to encourage you to interact with the topics under discussion, practise argument and establish your understanding of the material. Additionally, there will be opportunities for discussion with your tutor and fellow students (face to face, online or via phone), to help you to test out approaches to the various kinds of subject matter.
Your knowledge and understanding will be assessed principally through tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) that require written work ranging from short pieces of analysis to full-length essays. For some optional modules there may also be an examination.
The teaching and learning of cognitive skills in the humanities is closely integrated with the teaching of subject matter. There are opportunities to practise your acquisition of cognitive skills as you work through the study materials, with their embedded questions, and through your assessed work. Written assignments provide numerous opportunities to test out and refine your cognitive skills, and tutors, in their feedback on your assignments, have a key role to play in fostering this kind of learning.
The key skills in learning how to learn and communication are, again, integral parts of the teaching and assessment in humanities modules. Study materials include guidance on the use of appropriate academic conventions, and you can practise these in written assignments, with feedback from your tutor to help you to consolidate good scholarly habits.
The use of reflection as a tool for learning is built into the assessment pattern of the OU level 1 compulsory module, and the Virtual Learning Environment provides opportunity for formative assessment that reinforces various kinds of learning, including familiarisation with ICT. Reflective elements are also present in several OU level 2 modules.
Guidance on the acquisition of these skills is cumulative, and personalised support and feedback from your tutor and other OU staff will enhance your learning in these areas. TMAs and exams test the ability to absorb and synthesise information. Organisational skills are not explicitly tested, but, like the presentational skills, lie behind successful completion of assessment tasks throughout the modules constituting this diploma.