The University of Edinburgh
College of Humanities and Social Science
Undergraduate Learning and Teaching Committee
e-CUGLAT March 2014
Paper EC4D
For approval
Disclosable
Changes to existing programmes
The Committee is asked to approved the changes to existing programmed detailed below
Joan Kemp
March 2014
School
Name of
Programme
Brief summary of nature of and reasons for the change to existing programme
Relevant
documentation
provided?
Philosophy has, after much discussion, recently decided to make the pre-honours course Logic 1 (PHIL08004, http://www.drps.ed.ac.uk/1314/dpt/cxphil08004.htm) a mandatory course for all undergraduate degree programmes in Philosophy. In recent years, Logic 1 has been an
optional 20-credit level 8 course that students could elect to take in Year 1 or 2. The subject area has decided that, from 2014-15, Logic 1 should
be a mandatory course that students must take in Year 1. Progression to honours will require a pass in Logic 1, as with other mandatory prehonours courses.
This has consequences for degree partners in that it implies a change to the DPTs. For most DPTs, Philosophy would require 3 compulsory 20credit courses in Year 1 (Morality and Value, Logic, and Greats) rather than the 2 it has to date. The rest of the DPT would be substantially
unaffected.
The reasons behind the subject area's decision were the following:
1. First, logic is a historically important area of philosophy perfectly on a par with areas such as ethics, metaphysics, philosophy of mind,
and history of philosophy.
2. In addition to the historical significance of logic, logic is also an indispensable tool. Understanding philosophical texts without any
knowledge of basic logic is typically very difficult and a general grasp of the meaning of various key concepts, for example ‘argument’,
‘validity’, ‘soundness’, ‘entailment’, ‘inference’, ‘consequence’ etc. is absolutely key if one is to evaluate the strength of a philosophical
position or philosophical claim.
3. Virtually every area of philosophy (be it ethics, metaphysics or epistemology) rely extensively on concepts from logic — concepts that
students are taught only when taking a course specifically in logic. This means that in order to ensure that every student understands the
material when teaching courses in other areas, lecturers are often forced to spend considerable time explaining basic logical concepts —
concepts that the students who have already taken logic will be perfectly familiar with. It also means that students that elected not to do
logic during the first two years sometimes make basic argumentative mistakes even when reaching the end of their degrees.
For these reasons, there is now wide consensus among the philosophy staff, that any student graduating with a degree in philosophy should have
taken (at least) Logic 1 as part of their education. Consequently, we wish to add Logic 1 to the list of mandatory courses for single and joint subhonours students in philosophy.
PPLS
LLC
LLC
LLC
Philosophy (MA)
Hons
French &
Philosophy (MA)
Hons
German &
Philosophy (MA)
Hons
Italian &
Philosophy (MA)
Logic 1 PHIL08004 to be a mandatory course for all undergraduate degree
programmes in Philosophy.
Logic 1 PHIL08004 to be a mandatory course for all undergraduate degree
programmes in Philosophy.
Yes
Logic 1 PHIL08004 to be a mandatory course for all undergraduate degree
programmes in Philosophy.
Yes
Logic 1 PHIL08004 to be a mandatory course for all undergraduate degree
programmes in Philosophy.
Yes
Yes
PPLS
PPLS
PPLS
PPLS
PPLS
PPLS
PPLS
PPLS
PPLS
PPLS
Hons
Philosophy &
Economics (MA)
Hons
Philosophy &
English Language
(MA) Hons
Philosophy &
English Literature
(MA) Hons
Philosophy &
Greek (MA) Hons
Philosophy &
Linguistics (MA)
Hons
Philosophy &
Mathematics (MA)
Hons
Philosophy &
Politics (MA) Hons
Philosophy &
Psychology (MA)
Hons
Philosophy &
Scottish Literature
(MA) Hons
Philosophy &
Logic 1 PHIL08004 to be a mandatory course for all undergraduate degree
programmes in Philosophy.
Yes
Logic 1 PHIL08004 to be a mandatory course for all undergraduate degree
programmes in Philosophy.
Yes
Logic 1 PHIL08004 to be a mandatory course for all undergraduate degree
programmes in Philosophy.
Yes
Logic 1 PHIL08004 to be a mandatory course for all undergraduate degree
programmes in Philosophy.
Logic 1 PHIL08004 to be a mandatory course for all undergraduate degree
programmes in Philosophy.
Yes
Logic 1 PHIL08004 to be a mandatory course for all undergraduate degree
programmes in Philosophy.
Yes
Logic 1 PHIL08004 to be a mandatory course for all undergraduate degree
programmes in Philosophy.
Logic 1 PHIL08004 to be a mandatory course for all undergraduate degree
programmes in Philosophy.
Yes
Logic 1 PHIL08004 to be a mandatory course for all undergraduate degree
programmes in Philosophy.
Yes
Logic 1 PHIL08004 to be a mandatory course for all undergraduate degree
Yes
Yes
Yes
LLC
LLC
LLC
LLC
Theology (MA)
Hons
Portuguese &
Philosophy (MA)
Hons
Russian Studies &
Philosophy (MA)
Hons
Scandinavian
Studies &
Philosophy (MA)
Hons
Spanish &
Philosophy (MA)
Hons
programmes in Philosophy.
Logic 1 PHIL08004 to be a mandatory course for all undergraduate degree
programmes in Philosophy.
Yes
Logic 1 PHIL08004 to be a mandatory course for all undergraduate degree
programmes in Philosophy.
Yes
Logic 1 PHIL08004 to be a mandatory course for all undergraduate degree
programmes in Philosophy.
Yes
Logic 1 PHIL08004 to be a mandatory course for all undergraduate degree
programmes in Philosophy.
Yes
Psychology 3rd year course structure – background and proposed changes
There are currently 11 3rd year courses, which are all taken by single honours students (full list in Appendix 1). The proposed
changes relate to the six psychology ‘topic’ courses, which are the first six courses listed in Appendix 1, and also involve a minor
change to the Literature Review.
The current course structure does not allow any option choices for single-honours students in 3rd year, which has led to student
complaints, particularly as having some course choice in 3rd year appears to be the standard model for CHSS single honours
degrees (and in particular applies to non-psychology degrees within PPLS). It has also become apparent that the 20-credit
Literature Review taken in Semester 1 is over-demanding for some students and that reduction in the size and weighting of this
task would be appropriate.
The accrediting body for Psychology degree programmes, the British Psychological Society (BPS), is adopting a less prescriptive
attitude to course structure than previously, allowing more freedom to individual departments. There is still a requirement for
students to cover the five core BPS areas (cognitive, social, developmental, biological, individual differences) during 3 rd or 4th year,
but this is achievable via an appropriate selection of courses over the two years (as already happens for combined degree
students).
The proposed revised 3rd year course structure is:
 The six 10-credit topic courses, which currently have 8 or 9 2hr lectures (usually with a break for learning consolidation around midsemester), will be replaced by 11 10-credit option courses each comprising 5 x 2hr lectures/other activity running over one 5 week
teaching block. This is the same structure as that used for the Psychology 4th year option courses.
 The 3rd year Literature Review will be reduced from 20 to 10 credits, accompanied by a reduction in the word limit to 3500 words.
 Single honours students will select 7 of the new option courses, with the remainder of their 120 credits for the year coming from
Methodology 1, Methodology 2, Group Project, Literature Review, Critical Analysis (see Revised DPT 3rd year section – Appendix 2).
 Combined honours students will select the same number of credits from the option courses as from the previous topic courses (see
Revised DPT example, 3rd year section –Appendix 2).
 Other students (e.g. intercalated medical students) will continue to select the same number of 3rd year credits as previously, but from the
new course list.
 All Psychology honours students will need to select a combination of 3rd and 4th year options which cover the five core BPS areas. To
help students make informed decisions a document explaining the option structure in both 3rd and 4th year will be made available to
students entering honours to allow them to select their 3rd year options. These will be indicated on a form which will be returned to the
Teaching Office in advance of the start of the academic year.
Advantages of the new structure are:
(1) More course choice for students.
(2) Removes the current inconsistency between lecture hours for 10 credits between 3rd and 4th year.
(3) Allows more flexibility in planning – moving the 5-week option courses between semesters if needed is more straightforward compared
to the full-semester topic courses, and the number of courses available means that occasional temporary withdrawal of a course in the
event of staffing issues would be possible. It will also be straightforward in future to add any further courses proposed by staff members
(e.g. History of Psychology).
(4) The new shorter courses (often taught by one person rather than being team-taught as at present) will be easier to revise when necessary,
and the new structure will also facilitate the introduction of a wider range of methods of assessment.
PPLS
Psychology (MA)
Hons
PPLS
Psychology (BSc)
Hons
PPLS
Psychology &
Business (MA)
Hons
PPLS
Psychology &
Linguistics (MA)
Hons
PPLS
Philosophy &
Psychology (MA)
Hons
SPS
Sociology &
There are currently 11 3rd year courses, which are all taken by single honours
students (full list in Appendix 1). The proposed changes relate to the six psychology
‘topic’ courses, which are the first six courses listed in Appendix 1, and also involve a
minor change to the Literature Review.
There are currently 11 3rd year courses, which are all taken by single honours
students (full list in Appendix 1). The proposed changes relate to the six psychology
‘topic’ courses, which are the first six courses listed in Appendix 1, and also involve a
minor change to the Literature Review.
There are currently 11 3rd year courses, which are all taken by single honours
students (full list in Appendix 1). The proposed changes relate to the six psychology
‘topic’ courses, which are the first six courses listed in Appendix 1, and also involve a
minor change to the Literature Review.
There are currently 11 3rd year courses, which are all taken by single honours
students (full list in Appendix 1). The proposed changes relate to the six psychology
‘topic’ courses, which are the first six courses listed in Appendix 1, and also involve a
minor change to the Literature Review.
There are currently 11 3rd year courses, which are all taken by single honours
students (full list in Appendix 1). The proposed changes relate to the six psychology
‘topic’ courses, which are the first six courses listed in Appendix 1, and also involve a
minor change to the Literature Review.
Yes
There are currently 11 3rd year courses, which are all taken by single honours
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Psychology (MA)
Hons
students (full list in Appendix 1). The proposed changes relate to the six psychology
‘topic’ courses, which are the first six courses listed in Appendix 1, and also involve a
minor change to the Literature Review.