Programme Title

Graduate Diploma Theology

Final Award
(exit route if applicable for Postgraduate Taught Programmes)

Graduate Diploma

Programme Code

THE-GD-TH

UCAS Code

HECoS Code

100340

ATAS Clearance Required

No

Health Check Required

No

Portfolio Required

Interview Required

Mode of Study

Part Time

Type of Programme

Postgraduate

Length of Programme

2 Academic Year(s)

Total Credits for Programme

120

Exit Awards available

Awarding Institution/Body

Queen's University Belfast

Teaching Institution

Queen's University Belfast

School/Department

Institute of Theology

Framework for Higher Education Qualification Level 
www.qaa.ac.uk

Level 6

QAA Benchmark Group
www.qaa.ac.uk/quality-code/subject-benchmark-statements

Theology and religious studies (2014)

Accreditations (PSRB)

Does the Programme have any approved exemptions from the University General Regulations
(Please see General Regulations)

N/A

Programme Specific Regulations

The following regulations should be read in conjunction with the University’s General Regulations.

Examinations.

Each module is assessed at the end of the semester in which the module is studied.

The pass mark for each module will be 40%.

Candidates who pass all modules shall be awarded the Graduate Diploma in Theology.

Candidates who are awarded the Graduate Diploma in Theology, normally with a mark of 60% or above in at least five modules, are eligible to apply for admission to the Master of Research in Theology.

Additional Relevant Information
This programme aims to provide a conversion course for students who are graduates in a discipline other than Theology which may enable them, if they perform sufficiently well to apply for a taught postgraduate degree programme in Theology. In addition, the Diploma is a free-standing qualification which will allow applicants an opportunity to study in the area of Theology out of interest or personal choice.

Students are enrolled as members of Queen's University Belfast, but all teaching is carried out through Union Theological College.

Students with protected characteristics

N/A

Are students subject to Fitness to Practise Regulations

(Please see General Regulations)

No

Learning Outcomes: Cognitive Skills

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

To analyse and criticise arguments in-depth.
To reflect upon and clarify personal values.
To develop a critical independence of thought.
To manage study time and project preparation and completion.

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Lectures and tutorials together provide the opportunity to discuss, evaluate and subject-specific knowledge:
They also expose students to specific contextual and theoretical information as well as offering practical examples of different critical approaches.
Seminars offer a variety of tutor-led and student-led learning opportunities as well as a more sustained opportunity to debate and evaluate a breadth of knowledge gained independently from directed reading and from the sharing of resources and information.
Group presentations are used to encourage students to pursue their own interests, collaborate with peers, negotiate the demands of teamwork and develop their understanding of a topic.
Dissertation work is a programme of independent study agreed between student and supervisor designed to test the student’s capacity to manage independent study.
Through class discussions, students develop a comparative understanding of different approaches to material and the ability to formulate their own arguments and responses.
Class presentations and student interaction in small group sessions (e.g. tutorials or seminars) develop communication and rhetorical skills.
Student-centred learning situations encourage the ability to present and summarise knowledge to peers in a coherent, structured form, and to enhance further organisational and inter-personal skills.
Writing skills tutorials and lectures develop essay-writing on stylistic, structural, rhetorical and bibliographical levels. The ability to collate and obtain information is developed through introductory training in the use of libraries and online resources. These skills are taught by means of direct instruction (In lectures), reading assignments, group work and feedback on written work.

Methods of Assessment

Assessments required of students on the Theology Graduate Diploma pathway test and develop capacity to demonstrate the following cognitive skills:
To undertake time-limited reflection upon research projects/tasks
To express in fluent and appropriate written terms the results of research
To express in fluent and appropriate oral terms the results of research
To response promptly to alternate views and challenges to propositions made in research
To set time-tables and targets for research- and project management
To engage with theoretical models of interpretation
To comprehend complex ideas
To be self-reflective;
To exercise sound, reasoned judgment;
To think independently, originally and in a constructively critical manner;
To appreciate a variety of textual and cultural perspectives on academic enquiry;
To synthesise diverse primary evidence and subsequent academic comment;
To assess and appraise differing views on significant areas of academic debate;
To discriminate between what is central and what is peripheral to the issue in question;
To evaluate sources and academic comment critically in their context;
To make judgments on the basis of varied and problematic evidence and according to the persuasiveness of the arguments or the reliability of the evidence used.
To gather, organise and deploy evidence, data and information from a variety of secondary and some primary sources, so as to formulate and support a line of reasoning, or argument;
To appreciate the importance of and comply with the ethical requirements of study, which requires critical and reflective use of information and information technology in the learning process

Learning Outcomes: Transferable Skills

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

Students of Theology on the Graduate Diploma pathway develop a range of transferable skills appropriate to a wide variety of professional situations, as follows.
• Familiarity with current issues in theological discourse
• Ability in oral and written communication.
• Competence in basic IT skills.
• Ability to work independently and also the ability to work in collaboration with others.
• The ability to participate effectively in group discussion.

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Lectures and tutorials expose students to the tasks of:
•comprehending and evaluating new and complex information within a time-limited context
•observing the techniques of expert analysis and presentation of research data
•Seminars which offer a variety of tutor- and student-led learning opportunities as well as a more sustained opportunity to debate and evaluate a breadth of knowledge gained independently from directed reading and from the sharing of resources and information.
•Group presentations which encourage students to pursue their own interests, collaborate with peers, negotiate the demands of teamwork and develop their understanding of a topic.
•Dissertations which test the capacity of students to undertake a programme of independent study agreed between student and supervisor.
•Class discussions which allow students to develop a comparative understanding of different approaches to material and the ability to formulate their own arguments and responses.
•Class presentations which encourage student interaction in small group sessions (e.g. tutorials or seminars) and develop communication and rhetorical skills.
•Student-centred learning situations which encourage the ability of students to present and summarise knowledge to peers in a coherent, structured form, and to enhance further organisational and inter-personal skills.
•Writing skills tutorials and lectures: develop essay-writing on stylistic, structural, rhetorical and bibliographical levels. The ability to collate and obtain information is enhanced by introductory training in the use of libraries and online resources.

Methods of Assessment

Methods of assessment on the programme establish and refine transferable skills in the following ways:

• Written examinations:
•Ask of students high-level skills of thorough familiarisation with specific subjects
•Time-limited exposition of analysis of specific subjects
•Swift structuring and presentation of ideas
•Distillation of essentials and exclusion of information of marginal importance
•Seminars require interaction with subject experts and peers in analysing subjects, themes and ideas within a group or team context.
•Group presentations encourage students to collaborate with peers and negotiate the demands of teamwork.
•Dissertations which test the capacity of students to take ownership of independent study projects
•They demand discipline, maturity and high-level skills of academic organisation.
•Journalling which encourages sustained reflective and evaluative practice.
•Class discussions which allow students to develop a comparative understanding of different approaches to material and the ability to formulate their own arguments and responses.
•Class presentations which encourage student interaction in small group sessions (e.g. tutorials or seminars) and develop communication and rhetorical skills.
•Student-centred learning situations which encourage the ability of students to present and summarise knowledge to peers in a coherent, structured form, and to enhance further organisational and inter-personal skills.
•Writing skills tutorials and lectures which develop essay-writing on stylistic, structural, rhetorical and bibliographical levels. The ability to collate and obtain information is enhanced by introductory training in the use of libraries and online resources.

Learning Outcomes: Knowledge & Understanding

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

Consistent with the general educational aims of the programme outlined above, and the QAA benchmark statement for Theology and Religious Studies, students awarded a Graduate Diploma in Theology, should have achieved the following learning outcomes:

• acquisition of knowledge and understanding of five key theological disciplines.

• Have undertaken significant exegetical exploration and analysis of canonical Biblical texts,

• Demonstrated the capacity to reconstruct the context of the production of ideas and evaluate their influence on society at different historical periods as well as in the contemporary world.

• Appreciate the ways in which theological thinking informs pastoral work and mission

• Show possession of knowledge and understanding of the main philosophical issues relating to Christian theology

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the interaction between Christianity and contemporary culture

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Teaching and learning strategies used on the programme will have established:
• a knowledge of the core subject knowledge base for the academic study of Theology
• an awareness of the most influential ideas shaping the academic discourse in Theology
• an understanding of how academic enquiry is conducted in Theology
• an understanding of academic dialectics
• an aptitude for researching, promoting and publishing ideas in an academic context.

Methods of Assessment

Assessment methods used on the programme will have achieved the Knowledge and Understanding outcomes by requiring students to demonstrate:
• Analytical and critical knowledge of the key texts relevant to the disciplines as currently conceived
• significant engagement with influential contemporary and historical thinking on the subjects
• discipline-specific analytical techniques (translation, exegesis, literary-critical analysis, historical analysis, comprehension of theoretical and methodological practice in pursuit of scholarly objectives, theoretical rigour)
• clear, concise and informed presentation of ideas
• aptitude for academic debate and discussion in both written- and oral form.

Learning Outcomes: Subject Specific

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

As a discipline, Theology seeks to promote its own unique subject skills through developing students’ capacity to understand and reflect upon the nature its different sub-disciplines.
Many subject-specific skills are complementary and mutually reinforcing, and students should develop the ability to research, gather, sift and deploy relevant information and concepts, discriminating between what is central and what is peripheral to the issue in question; to evaluate sources critically in their context; and to make judgments on the basis of varied and problematic evidence.
Students should also be able to understand, discriminate between, and evaluate critically conflicting theoretical and interpretative positions, and form a judgment on their validity according to the persuasiveness of the arguments and the reliability of the evidence used.
More specifically, students on the Graduate Diploma pathway will acquire the ability to:
• read texts with a developed awareness and appreciation of their formal, structural, stylistic, and culturally specific properties;
• bring knowledge to bear on critical interpretation of the ways in which different cultural and historical contexts inform the reading and writing of texts, as well as subsequent theological interpretations;
• conduct critical debate, drawing on and engaging with different critical perspectives in the analysis of texts;
• be aware of key debates in theological debate;
• write coherent, structured and intellectually rigorous essays in answer to specific questions on theological and secular literature;
• comprehend and highlight key primary texts as a fundamental feature of academic debate, engaging with influential modern critical analysis;
• develop the key skills of academic presentation of work: fluency of expression, citation protocols and bibliographical conventions
• reflect upon a wide range of experience and skills particularly in relation to communication and pastoral care.

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Teaching and learning strategies used on the programme will have established:
• a familiarity with the core knowledge base for the academic study of Theology
• an awareness of the most influential ideas shaping the academic discourse in Theology
• an understanding of how academic enquiry is conducted in each
• an understanding of academic dialectics

Methods of Assessment

The assessment regime on the programme is comprised of a variety of traditional and innovative methods, including timed unseen written examinations, language class-tests, data analysis, essays, critical book/article reviews, portfolios, individual and group presentations, and seminar and tutorial reports and contributions. These vary in accordance with the specific learning outcomes of particular modules as set out in the individual module descriptions. Formative written work assists the development of understanding, critical judgment, and independent thought, both through the feedback given, and through the process of writing itself. Analytical, discursive, interpretive and critical exercises – both formative and summative – test students’ ability to engage with, analyse, contextualise, interpret and criticise relevant material.
All these assessment methods require students to demonstrate the subject skills which are detailed in each School’s criteria for marking undergraduate work. While these teaching and assessment methods deliver information to students and test their knowledge of that information in each subject, students are encouraged to assimilate and apply knowledge of both disciplines discretely to become independent, self-reflective learners. Module guides and BA Handbooks inform students in their choice of, access to, and citation of relevant secondary materials.
The different methods of assessment serve different, but complementary, purposes:
• Examinations and essays require that students demonstrate coverage of material, appropriate methods of analysis, the ability to discriminate between arguments, and the ability to form an independent argument.
• Written exams help students gain a knowledge of a topic that can be readily and directly applied to a set problem or question, and also test their ability to select relevant information and to write clearly and concisely within a set time.
• Group presentations are used to encourage students to pursue their own interests and develop their understanding of a topic.
• Extended essays test their ability to order and shape information, and to recognise ways in which to present and prioritise material.
• Coursework is required to be submitted in a specified form and to fixed deadlines, thus teaching students to learn to prioritise assignments and objectives and to hone their organisational and time-management skills.

Feedback is provided for each type and instance of assessment and students may seek dedicated feedback sessions with course tutors. Personal Development Planning facilitates student reflection upon academic performance and assists in developing strategies for improvement.