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BA Degree in Social Sciences

Common Guidelines for Submission of the Project

LEVEL 5

Department of Social Studies

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

The Open University of Sri Lanka

Nawala, Nugegoda

2016/2017

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Introduction and Course Description

This document provides instruction for the students who undertake the Project/Internship

at the Level 5 of the BA Degree in Social Sciences of the Department of Social Studies of

the OUSL. The Project is a 3 - credit compulsory course that should be completed in the

second semester of the degree program.

The title of the course is (hereafter defined) “Project” and students are expected to conduct

a mini project/study or work as an intern in an organization with the approval of the

Department of Social Studies.

Following Course Codes of the Project refer to the stream of study you have chosen.

Stream Course Code of Project

Economics and Development SSU3139

Politics and International Studies SSU3148

Society and Culture Studies SSU3158

Communication Studies SSU3128

Aims

This course aims to facilitate the development of critical thinking, empathy and academic

knowledge of students in keeping with the aim of enhancing knowledge, attitude and skills.

Students may consider their employment status (employed or awaited employment) as a

criteria in selecting either the Project or the Internship. Since the unemployed students

require some work experience, they are advised to undertake the Internship.

Outcomes of this exercise

All students who undertake the project/study/internship are expected to develop analytical

and critical thinking as a result of the independent study, project work, and individual

observations of the work experience. Students who undertake the Internship will receive

exposure to the world of work.

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All students will be able to independently judge the function of certain social phenomena

and bring his/her scientific analysis on them and critically contribute for the wider social

discourse on issues of the society in general.

Employed Students (Category 1)

The employed students are advised to collect a letter from the respective employer

certifying their employment status. Apart from the letter confirming the employment status,

they should finally submit a Research Project (RP) or Learning Journal/ Portfolio (LJP) to

complete the course. Please find the format of the Certificate to be obtained from the

employer in Appendix 1 & 2.

The RP to be presented by way of an ANALYTICAL ESSAY and it should be a Maximum

of 4000. This does not include bibliography, footnotes, graphs, etc. You can present your

RP by using the format of a simple research design which is taught to you at the Research

Method Course. However we do not ask you to follow a strict format here but your

essay/report/analysis/critique etc. needs to be organized in a methodical manner. You can

use or adopt the following instructions and those provided in Appendix 5 in order to design

your project and the report.

- Introduce about your project/study first.

- Briefly mention the aims and objectives of your project/study. Tell why you chose

this particular topic and tell how significant it is for you/others and society etc.

- What is the major focus/problem/question that you identify as the most important

area of this study/ project? You can present that as a statement of the problem/issue.

- What is the significance/importance of your project/study? Think of social as well

as personal benefits and also other significant aspects that require attention in this

regard.

- Main findings of the study/project- Presentation of findings, discussion of findings;

any relevant tables, data etc.

- Also you may relate your findings to relevant concepts/theories/ideas you have

discussed in the class room and learnt from the courses.

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- Draw from other research studies writings/newspaper articles/journal articles,

books, websites etc. the relevant arguments/information etc. to support your ideas

presented in this essay in the form of a literature review.

- Also those who explain their work experience can draw from the similar kind of

experiences/descriptions etc. as may be available.

- You can illustrate your report with graphs/pictures/tables etc.

- Provide a summary/conclusions/recommendations and your analysis on the entire

outcome of the project.

Students Awaiting Employment (SAE) (Category 2)

The students awaiting employment are expected to select a suitable organization for an

internship. The duration of the internship should be a minimum of 150 hours. The

student’s involvement should be certified by the employer of the establishment and should

carry out a Research Project (RP) or Learning Journal/ Portfolio (LJP) for the completion

of the task. Those who wish to do the RP need to get the concurrence from the employer.

The Internship

The Internship builds experience that sharpens a student through interaction with people

working at a professional level and it gives the opportunity to enhance one’s personal

development. The students do not get such an opportunity while pursuing undergraduate

programmes in the university. An internship also offers the opportunity for members to

work as a team and build communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills that

employer’s desire. Internships also allow the interns to get offers to work with someone

who can become a mentor for a well deserving and long career.

It should be noted that the majority of students enrolled for the BA degree in Social

Sciences are employed and the major objective of completion of the Degree programme is

for them to either get promotions or to elevate their skills. Apart from employed students,

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there are unemployed students in the degree programme looking for lucrative jobs after

completion of the degree programme.

The following instructions are to be followed by students to reap the benefits by reaching

their respective objectives.

The students awaiting employment are advised to use the introductory letter from the

Department of Social Studies to join a suitable organization. The interns are expected to

communicate with the respective unit leader or the coordinator and collect the letters. The

sample introductory letter is attached as Appendix 3. Please find the format of the letter

addressed to the organization and the certificate to be obtained from the employer in

Appendix 4.

Evaluation/Assessment of the RP or LJP

The evaluation of the internship course has two components as mentioned below:

1. CAT 1: This will be the submission of a 300 word limit document describing what

you intend to do in the context of ‘Research Project’ (RP) or ‘Learning Journal/

Portfolio’ (LJP) as part of this course.

2. CAT 2: Ten (10) minutes of presentation on the progress of selected mode of

internship/ project.

3. Final report: The content of the selected mode of final report of RP or LJP are in

the Appendix 5 & 6 respectively.

Note: Whether the students are ‘Employed’ or ‘Unemployed’ the certificate from the

employer and submission of RP or LJP is considered a compulsory component for the

completion of the internship of the BA in Social Sciences of the OUSL

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Instructions for Writing the 300 word limit of Abstract - CAT 1

a. Title of RP or LJP along with details of the student

i.e Name, registration number, employment status.

b. What is the main issue focused in your RP or LJP

c. Justification of the RP or LJP

d. How are you going to implement this RP or LJP?

e. What methods, analytical tools you will adopt?

f. What are the possible social, political/cultural/economic implications of this RP or

LJP

g. Conclusion and Suggestions

Guidelines for the Oral Presentation – CAT 2

Students conducting a RP or LJP should include the following information for the Oral

Presentation:

a. Title of the RP or LJP M

b. Main questions being explored

c. Progress of the work completed up to now/ methodology adopted.

d. Preliminary findings, challenges/constraints faced up to now

e. Next steps

The students are advised to communicate with the unit leader of the Department of

Social Studies or the respective coordinators in the regional centers of the OUSL for the

supervision needed for your Internship or project.

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Submission Dates for Internship and Project

CAT 1 1st Week of January 2017

CAT 2 1st March 2017

Final Report 31st March 2017

Day School Session1 with

Supervisors

26th November 8.30- 10.30

Day School Session 2 with

Supervisors

28th January 9.00- 11.00

Day School Session 3with

Supervisors 5th March 9.00- 11.00

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Appendix 1

Certificate from the Employer

…………………………

…………………………

Dear Sir/Madam

The bearer Mr/Ms. ………………………………………..Registration Number…………….

attached to your organization is a final year student of our BA degree programme of the Department

of Social Studies of the Open University of Sri Lanka.

We would appreciate if you could complete the following form and return to student in a sealed

envelope to be submitted to the Department of Social Studies. Please note that your comments

constitute part of the evaluation process of the internship and should be confidential.

Thank you

Yours sincerely

……………………

Head- Department of Social Studies

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Appendix 2

Internship Certificate

This is to be filled by Workplace Supervisor

Name of the Student………………………………………………………………..

OUSL Registration number………………………………………………………..

Nature of Work during internship:…………………………………………………

Number of Hours completed:………………………………………………………..

(Please note that student is expected to complete a minimum of 150 hours during internship).

Please rate the following:

Very Good Fair Poor

Enthusiasm

Confidence

Initiative and Resourcefulness

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Team Work

Knowledge of specific field

Leadership skills

Ability to evaluate and adjust as necessary

Willingness to learn and to accept criticism

Sense of responsibility

Name:………………………………….

Signature……………………………

Designation and Address………………. (Stamped)

Date………………………………….

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Appendix 3

The Department of Social Studies

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

20th November 2016.

Dear Students,

Project Component of BA Degree Programme and The Internship Programme

It is with pleasure that we inform you that on ------------- 2016, the Department of Social Studies

will be conducting a special briefing session on the Project Component and the Internship

Programme expectations for Final Year BA students.

As you know, the Project component is an integral part of our restructured BA Degree Programme

with a view to strengthen the capacities of employed as well as unemployed students. The

following objectives are to be fulfilled:

(a) To use the multidisciplinary training in Economics, Sociology, Communication Studies and

Political Science to look at organizations at work. Here, the employers are able to provide

general or specific exposure to the beneficiaries in line with one’s policies.

(b) If the organization wishes, the beneficiary student could carry out a mutually profitable

basis research leading to a Project Report on a proposed area of interest, i.e., Long Term

Planning and Sustainability, Organizational Culture, Corporate Good Governance and

Ethics, Communication in organizations, Employee Relations through Trade Unionism,

Motivation, Conflict Resolution Practices, Leadership, Politics and Power, Economic

Productivity etc.

(c) Beneficiaries who are not engaged in such a basic investigation are able to submit a

Methodical Learning Journal/Project Report.

(d) Beneficiary undergraduate to work with an assigned key contact person in the

organization and also an academic staff member for departmental supervision and

guidance

(e) Official confirmation that the Intern has completed the Three (03) Months/150 Hour

period of study.

We look forward to see you at the Departmental briefing on the subject.

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Neavis Morias

Head- Department of Social Studies

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Appendix 4

Certificate from the Employer

…………………………

…………………………

Dear Sir/Madam

The Department of Social Studies of the Open University of Sri Lanka sincerely appreciate the

placement granted to Mr/Ms…………………. Registration Number……………………. who is a

final year student of the BA degree programme.

We would appreciate if you could complete the following form and return to student in a sealed

envelope to be submitted to the Department of Social Studies. Please note that your comments

constitute part of the evaluation process of the internship and should be confidential.

Thank you

Yours sincerely

……………………

Head- Department of Social Studies

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Appendix 5

GUIDELINES FOR PROJECT/STUDY

1. SEQUENCE OF PROJECT REPORT DOCUMENT:

The sequence of the final project report should be arranged as follows:

1. Cover Page and Title Page

2. Supervisor Certification/ approval

3. Declaration

4. Abstract

5. Content

6. List of tables

7. List of figures

8. List of Symbols, Abbreviations and Nomenclatures

9. Chapters

10. Bibliography/References

11. Appendices

2. PAGE DIMENSION, BINDING SPECIFICATIONS AND TYPING

INSTRUCTIONS:

The dimension of the project report should be in A4 size. The project report should be bound

using flexible cover of the thick white art paper. The cover should be printed in black letters and

the text for printing should be identical. Three hard copies of the final project and one CD

(softcopy) should be submitted to the unit leader at the Department of Social studies or to the

respective coordinators in the regional centers.

The typing instructions are as follows.

o Paper: A4

o Margins – left 4 cm, right 3 cm, top 3.5 cm and bottom 3 cm, with justification

o Font: Times New Roman

o Font Size for body text: 12

o Line spacing: 1.5

o Chapter Title Font size: 16(All Caps)

o Sub title font size: 14

o Spelling to be British English

o Pages should be numbered (Bottom of page- middle)

The Reference should appear in APA (American Psychological Association)

style. Some examples are given below.

Anderson, M., & Reid, C. (2009). Don't forget about levels of

explanation. Cortex: A

Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior, 45(4),

560-561. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2008.06.005

Byrne, A. (2008). Web 2.0 strategies in libraries and information services. The

Australian, Library Journal, 57(4), 365-376.

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Appendix 6

GUIDELINES FOR LEARNING JOURNAL PORTFOLIO (LJP)

Structure of the LJP

a. Maximum 2500-3000 words.

b. Times New Roman; Font size 12; Line spacing 1.5

c. LJ/Portfolio can include illustrations, photographs and any other relevant

material such as examples of work produced during internship.

The objective of the LJP is to present a record of your internship. It is intended to be a

record of your reflections on your experiences and learning during the internship.

While not a diary per se, it should record your learning process as well as the different

experiences throughout your internship.

Students who undertake Internship can maintain the record to compile the LJP

throughout their work and present that as the final report for evaluation. However in

writing a learning journal you have to follow some specific guidelines or maintain

certain standards to display the academic quality of your work. You can adopt some of

the guidelines below in preparing the LJ. First look at the following definition of LJ.

“A learning journal is a collection of notes, observations, thoughts and other relevant materials

built‐up over a period of time and maybe a result of a period of study, learning and/or working

experience. Its purpose is to enhance your learning through the process of writing and thinking

about your learning experiences. Your learning journal is personal to you and will reflect your

personality, preferences and experiences” (See URL:

http://www.peicpt.com/sitefiles/File/Portfolio/LearningJournal.pdf).

- Hope that above mentioned definition of a LJP will give you an idea of and help

prepare the LJP for the period of work/training/project you are going to undertake

soon.

- This guideline may be adopted according to your requirement but you can refer to

several other formats of writing a LJP. However, the major requisite is that you

maintain a proper criteria to organize your reflections/writings that you will be

doing on daily basis during this period of internship.

- First mention the title of your project/name of the organization where you will do

your internship.

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- Tell what you think of the nature of the project/work/training etc.?

- What really inspired you to undertake this work/project/internship? Reflect on

such inspirations.

- What is your understanding of the organization/work/study that so far you had

about it?

- How do you think you can develop a better understanding of this

work/study/training etc.?

- Why do you think that your experience has changed you/given you something

new or the study/project has awakened you on new realities/understandings?

- Who are the people/what are the materials that led you to get a new

experience/develop new thinking etc.?

- What is your evaluation of the way you approach to carry out this project/do the

study or the internship?

- How do you reflect on your role as a part of this project/study/internship?

- New knowledge/experiences/skills you gained as a result of this

project/study/internship

- Any insights that you can provide for others who want to get into your area of

work.

- How would you design your future work/studies/this experience?

You select one of these two options to prepare your final report or else you can develop

another format in consultation with your supervisors.

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Cover Page:

Cover page of PROJECT/STUDY and LJP should include the details

BA Degree in Social Sciences

Final Report of the Project

Project/study Title/ or Title including the

Organization’s name (for Interns)

Submitted by

Student Name:

Course Code: SSU

Level 5

Stream

Department of Social Studies

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

The Open University of Sri Lanka

2016/2017