SPOL10020 Contemporary Irish Welfare State

Academic Year 2023/2024

This module provides an introduction to the main areas of contemporary Irish social policy. This includes the 'four pillars' of the system (social protection; health; education; and housing) but also an overview of key aspects of social work as they relate to social policy. The module presents an overview of current policy in each of the areas and students are required to think analytically about each of the key policies, assessing their performance relative to particular goals. Students are introduced to key data sources (mainly on-line) to enable you to draw on readily available sources of information to update your knowledge and assessment of various social policy schemes and programmes.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module, you should be able to: Outline the main components of the Irish social policy system (including social work) and describe how they operate. Find more detailed information on particular social policy programmes and use that information to describe and assess those programmes.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

40
Autonomous Student Learning

38
Lectures

22
Tutorial

4
Computer Aided Lab

4
Total

108
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Lectures; active/task based learning; peer and group work; critical reading and thinking. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Requirements:

None

Learning Exclusions:

None


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Assignment: Open book exam to be administered through Brightspace. Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Standard conversion grade scale 40% No

80
Multiple Choice Questionnaire: MCQ based on expert interview Week 11 n/a Standard conversion grade scale 40% No

5
Multiple Choice Questionnaire: MCQ based on expert interview Week 8 n/a Standard conversion grade scale 40% No

5
Multiple Choice Questionnaire: MCQ based on expert interviews Week 6 n/a Standard conversion grade scale 40% No

5
Multiple Choice Questionnaire: MCQ based on interviews with experts in each sector of the Irish welfare state. Week 4 n/a Standard conversion grade scale 40% No

5

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn Yes - 1 Hour
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Peer review activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

The continuous assessment component is conducted in tutorials and peer review feedback and group feedback from tutor given in the tutorials.

Name Role
Dr Maria Pierce Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Dr Jack Bwalya Tutor
Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
 
Spring
      
Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 32, 33 Mon 16:00 - 16:50
Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Wed 14:00 - 14:50
Tutorial Offering 3 Week(s) - 21, 31 Tues 14:00 - 14:50
Tutorial Offering 4 Week(s) - 21, 31 Tues 10:00 - 10:50
Tutorial Offering 5 Week(s) - 21, 31 Wed 09:00 - 09:50
Tutorial Offering 6 Week(s) - 21, 31 Wed 13:00 - 13:50
Tutorial Offering 8 Week(s) - 21, 31 Thurs 11:00 - 11:50
Tutorial Offering 10 Week(s) - 21, 31 Fri 11:00 - 11:50
Spring