COURSE
OUTLINE - Revised:
20 August 2004
CONTENTS
1. Programme
Structure and Content.
2. Aims and
Objectives.
3. Entry Requirements.
4. Teaching
and Learning Methods.
5. Methods
of Assessment.
6. Supervision
and Cohorts
1.
Course Structure and Content.
The Military
Studies course is designed to be completed within eighteen months
by a student devoting ten to twelve hours a week, working by distance
learning. A student wishing to take a longer period to complete
the course will be entitled to do so, provided that he/she completes
the requirement for the Course within thirty-six months.
Candidates
will normally join the Course at one of four entry points during
the year: Autumn Semester - October and January. Spring Semester
- April and July. They will be assigned to a supervisor and to
a cohort of students.
Exit
Points. The Course currently consists of ten modules.
For students pursuing the M.Sc. in Military Studies, the first
six modules are the course ‘core’ and the student
must select two electives from the remaining three modules (G,
H, or I), for a total of 8 taught courses. The final module consists
of a Master’s Thesis. In order to achieve a pass, a candidate
must satisfy the examiners in each module of the course. The University
reserves the right to vary the number and nature of the modules
examined.
Certificate
and Diploma Programs. For those pursuing a Certificate
in Military Studies, the first four modules (A-D) are required.
Those pursuing the Diploma in Military Studies must complete the
first 8 modules (A-H). In order to achieve a pass, a candidate must
satisfy the examiners in each module of the course. The University
reserves the right to vary the number and nature of the modules
examined.
Currently,
they are:
A. Great Military
Thinkers: Sun Tzu and Von Clausewitz
B. Eastern Versus Western Theories of War
C. The Nature of War
D. Military Psychology and Sociology
E. Modern Armies: Warriors, Peacekeepers, and the RMA.
F. The Evolution of Naval Power
G. Postmodern Military Issues: Civil-Military Relations, Women in
the Military & Professionalism
H. The Evolution of Air Power
I. The Law of War.
J. Master’s Thesis.
2.
Aims and Objectives.
The course
is intended to give the student a broad but very thorough exposure
to the concepts and issues prevalent in military studies. The course
will allow the student to explore and comprehend the ancient strategies
of the great military thinkers, both Eastern and Western, and how
they apply or do not apply today, as well as a comprehensive overview
on the human elements in all aspects of warfare. This course will
help prepare the successful candidate for a career in military studies,
or to simply advance the knowledge of serving commissioned members
of the Armed Forces.
3.
Entry Requirements.
The usual minimum
requirements for entry to the Course are as follows:
1. A first
degree in any discipline, or;
2. A commission in the Armed Forces and service as an officer.
Candidates
will normally have attained the age of twenty-four years. All
candidates will be expected to show a proficiency in the English
language.
Each application
will be considered on its own merits, however, and admission to
the course and all interpretations as to the eligibility for such
admission remain at the discretion of the University.
4.
Teaching and Learning Methods.
The delivery
of the teaching for the military studies course is by distance
learning. The material is designed to give the student maximum
flexibility as to the pace of learning. Course materials will
consist of Topic Lists, detailed directed reading from currently
available books and monographs.
Topic
Lists. These will be a summary of the topics or sub-sections
that are to be covered in the relevant module.
Text
books. The second major element of teaching for the Course
is the Text Book. Because of the likely circumstances of students
studying away from access to major libraries, effort has been
made to concentrate teaching upon the standard classic texts for
each module that provide a sufficient coverage of the topics dealt
with in the Course. Students will be directed to the relevant
portions of each text, in the order that these should be tackled
against each topic heading in the appropriate sequence.
Background
Reading. A list of general texts and articles, relating
to each module will also be presented to the student for further
reading, either during the Course or for follow up work.
Progress
Assessment Tests, (PATs). A further component of the
learning will be the PATs. These will normally take the form of
a series of complex multiple choice questions, designed to test
the student's grasp of the major concepts of each module. While
they will necessarily be of an "open book" nature, they
will require the student, not only to research the literature
of the subject presented but to demonstrate understanding and
discrimination. While the results of the PATs will not count towards
final assessment, and may thus be seen as "non-punitive",
a student will be required to have achieved a satisfactory pass
in the relevant PATs for each module, before being allowed to
tackle the minor and major assignments for that module.
Minor
and Major Assignments. The requirements of these elements
of the Course are dealt with in detail in Section 5 - Methods
of Assessment. In terms of the teaching philosophy of the Course,
the following outlines apply. The Minor Assignment will consist
of problems on the course work, and will be designed to allow
the student to demonstrate a grasp of the basic principles of
the main elements of that module, and to be able to apply them
to the solution of problems. The Major Assignment, on the other
hand, will consist of a short project designed to show how the
course work can be applied by a practicing military studies professional.
5.
Methods of Assessment.
Each student
will be examined in all core modules of the Course - A through
E - and one of the elective modules - F or G - and the MINIMUM
PASS (Grade "C" - 50%), must be achieved in each module.
A Minimum Pass is also required for module H. There are no traditional
"three hour" examination papers, although students will
be required to satisfy the examiners as to their suitability to
proceed to the Minor and Major assessment stages of each module
by satisfactory performance at the Progress Assessment Test, (PAT)
stage. A failure at this stage may be re-tested on up to two subsequent
occasions.
Over and
above this requirement all students will be required to submit
a short introductory paper, based upon guided reading, which will
assess their capability to deal with later work. A student who
fails to attain a satisfactory standard in this paper will receive
the appropriate guidance before being invited to proceed with
the main body of the Course.
The assessment
for the Course will consist of two elements - A Portfolio of Assignments
and the Thesis. The Portfolio will account for 70% of the final
Grade for the Course. The Thesis will account for 30%. Each of
these will be presented to the University for formal assessment,
in the form of separate volumes, (two copies of each), typed and
bound according to the University's current regulations.
The Portfolio
of Assignments will consist of a selection of assignments of the
student's choice. Despite this regulation, students will be required
to have achieved MINIMUM PASS on the average of the Minor and
Major assignments as submitted for EACH module. This minimum to
pass a module, (see below), is an average of Grade "C"
(50%), where Minor Assignments attract a weighting of 40% of the
total for a module and Major Assignments attract 60%.
The Portfolio
will consist of any five Minor Assignments and any five Major
Assignments of the student's choice. It is expected that students
may wish to amend previously submitted assignments to reflect
Supervisors' comments. It must be noted, however, that Supervisors
will offer only one set of criticisms for any given assignment
that achieves a minimum pass mark. No further advice will be offered
for an assignment that is to be included in the Portfolio.
The Thesis
is seen as the student’s opportunity to apply the subject
matter of the Course to a particular military or strategic topic
that he/she is particularly interested in. As such, it will be
a negotiated process between student and supervisor, in which
the former offers suggestions for possible detailed study for
‘tailoring’ to meet the dual needs of academic rigour
and the student’s personal objectives. Here, suffice it
to say that the Thesis will be written on a topic, agreed between
student and supervisor, that will be worthy of the attraction
of 30% of the overall marks for the Course, and will be between
20000 and 25000 words in length (excluding the bibliography and
appendices). While the supervisor will offer help on the formulation
and execution of the Thesis, once the Thesis is submitted, it
will be taken as the final submission.
6.
Supervision and Cohorts.
The University
is aware of the need to provide first rate supervision to students,
given the fact that they are working in a distance learning mode.
Each cohort of students, joining the Course at a given entry point
- will be allocated a Supervisor who is either an experienced academic
or proven practitioner in the field. He or she will be the students'
guide through the Course.
Aware of
the fact that distance learning is usually a difficult and isolating
experience, it is proposed that each cohort of students should
receive a list of its peers. These will be people who are undergoing
the same stresses and strains. They will be facing the same problems
and the same assignment difficulties at a similar time. Rather
than feeling isolated, it is the University's hope that students
will wish to join with others to share their experiences in a
fellow feeling of a community. Unless an individual student wishes
to maintain anonymity, each Cohort of students will be given a
list of their peers, in the hope that the over all standard of
their work, their performance on the Course and, above all, their
experience as a student is enhanced.
© Copyright Knightsbridge University 2005. No part of this
Course Outline, in part or in whole, may be reproduced, distributed
or used for commercial purposes without the written consent of Knightsbridge
University
