Courses with a human edge

Updated on: Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The University of Southampton's School of Social Sciences has launched two new courses this year — MSc in gerontology (through distance learning) and BSc in population and geography. Talking about the need for starting a long distance programme in gerontology, Maria Evandrou, director, Centre for Research on Aging, University of Southampton, said, "We started this course to help mid-career professionals advance their careers by strengthening their academic base. The students targeted through this course are well into their careers and have families.

Such students find it difficult to enrol in regular courses. And it is for this reason that our course shall be delivered in the distance mode — a mode that is cost-effective both in terms of money and time."
Elaborating on the course, Athina Vlachntoni, lecturer in gerontology, said, "The MSc in gerontology will provide an understanding of key issues related to population ageing in the developed and the developing world and policy responses that are aimed at improving the welfare of older people while investigating relationships between generations through an interdisciplinary approach."

The course comprises six modules (comprising compulsory and optional modules) divided into two semesters. "Students have an option of taking a short course to get a feel of what the course is like and can then choose to follow either the distance or the regular programme," informed Vlachntoni.

All modules can be followed as short courses of 12 weeks' duration. The course fee for the distance education (MSc gerontology ) ranges from £4,000-4 ,500 and the fee for short courses is £450.

Lectures are recorded and uploaded on the internet. The material provided to students enroled in the distance programme is the same as regular students. At the end of the course, students have to submit a 15,000-word dissertation. Students who have a second class in any Honours course can apply. "Technology is the foundation of our long distance course. The basic requirement is a highspeed internet connection and headphones . Students shall be given a software to download and through that software, they can access our libraries and the virtual learning environment, among other facilities," added Evandrou.

As to the other new course (BSc in population and geography), Jane Falkingham, head of the School of Social Sciences said, "The course is a combined degree programme which explores the mechanisms that drive population change such as births, deaths, migration and investigates the implications of that change on society and nature."

The course brings together modules from geography and the social sciences. Students study a variety of subjects such as economy, culture and space along with research methods in social sciences. All modules are taught using lectures, seminars and projects. Indian students who have scored 70% in class XII and above are eligible to apply.

Talking about how Indian students can apply the knowledge from this course locally, Falkingham said, "Students learn to critically analyse government policies and therefore are equipped to make positive policy interventions. For instance, in India, there is a split between north India and south India in terms of the sex ratio. Students of this course can understand why in certain parts of the country a male child is preferred through statistics, economics and other socially relevant parameters and make positive interventions."

Times of India

Courses with a human edge

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