The Student Room Group
Chapel, Keele University
Keele University
Keele

What CSP's to take / not to take

So as you know in the first year you have to take CSP's toget the point you need to pass the year. I though id start a thread for people who are at keele to give advice to newbies about which ones to take and which ones to avoid. I definately wish id had this advice before coming to keele.


To start thinks off

NO NOT TAKE THE INTERNET
It involvrs filling in a 1500 word preforma once a week in a freezing computer lab. Subject matter ranging from how to use MSN to how to recognise to how to use a search engine effectively. Plus the lecture is 9am on a wed.

secondly, Unless you are really, really good at languages dont take one. Its worth 20 credits and you have to pass all exams for 2 terms in order to get the 20 credits. You cannot collect 10 credits for passing the first term. If you screw up the second term you have to take the whole thing again in your second year in order to pick up your 20 credits.

I didnt take scientific writing myself but i have many friends who did. If you are taking a science subject you really dotn need to do it. its boring and you have to write essays for it. plus it doesnt teach you anything whick you dont pick up in your chosen science subject (for the first couple of lab reports its totally structured for you). Well thats froma chemists point of view anyway, i dont know about biology.

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1
okay, thanks.

What modules should be take? what are on offer? how does the whole point system work?
Chapel, Keele University
Keele University
Keele
Reply 2
DO TAKE:

CSI (Crime, Science and Investigation) its easy and interesting. Plus the practicals are fun as you get to do finger printing and handwriting analysis.

This is Planet Earth and The Solar System I have hard is dead easy, it's all really basic. Someone I know had to do a powerpoint presentation on Dinosaurs which was like 20% of overall mark.

I'd steer clear of internet ones. And ethics in biosciences as it runs from 5-7 on thursday (this time may change) and its quite boring.

Scientific Writing is quiet easy and you don't have an exam for it, it involves writing short easys and abstracts and takes up little time.
Reply 3
Im doing CSI at the moment and the practicals are pretty good/easy and are worth 50% overall :eek: easy pass if you ask me

Strategic thinking is very boring but if you go the 1st three lectures and then have a good hour revising it is VERY easy to pass:biggrin:
Take The Solar System and Stars and the Universe - all the notes and assignments are on the web so you don't actually need to turn up to the lectures! Although they can be mildly entertaining, when I manage to stay awake! They're on Thursday, 5-6.
Oh yeah, and he gives you 30 of the exam questions!
Reply 6
so;
1.) how many of these do we need to take???
2.)How many lectures etc a week are they each???
3.)When and how do we get to choose them???
Soz, i just curious:p:
is there, by any chance, a bowling course? :eek: (the Americans have em... :redface: )
Reply 8
the number of csp's you take depoends on how many points your course is worth. each module is worth 10 points (languages are 20 points). the average university course is 90 - 100 points so you need to take 2 or 3 CSP modules. there is no entry requirements for any of the courses (apart from the level you enter when doing languages) but there are resrictions eg you cand do CSI if you are doiung forensics and there is a biology CSP you cant do if you got higher than a C at a level.
The only CSP that you have to have an interview is the teaching languages abroad CSP as there is such a high application rate.

If you are taking 3 csp's you typically take 2 in the first term and one in the second. You can advance to the second year with 100 points (passing all your course modules (90 points) and one CSP module (10 points)) but you must then pick up the 2 failed CSP modules in the second year inorder to pass into year three. This is not the way to go, it is favoutrable to pass into the second year having collected your 120 points, so pick easy modules that you will go to.

You will recieve the csp book in your welcome pack (around august time)
Reply 9
I did CSi, the notes are on the web so you dont have to turn up to the lecture which was on tues 5-6, n the practicals were really fun anyway, fingerprinting, handwriting analysis, making drug models.

I also did Reading between the lines, i found it quite boring as it was more about media n politics than i anticipated and was quite dull. Although it didnt have an exam, so that was a bonus. You do have to write a diary though saying what was discussed in each lecture, so you have to turn up or get notes off someone else there, although they do take a register. Then you have to write a 1500 essay on something media and how it is interpreted related. Easy to pass if you turn up to the lectures which was on wed 12-2.
Reply 10
I did CSI, the notes are on the web so you dont have to turn up to the lecture which was on tues 5-6, n the practicals were really fun anyway, fingerprinting, handwriting analysis, making drug models.

I also did Reading between the lines, i found it quite boring as it was more about media n politics than i anticipated and was quite dull. Although it didnt have an exam, so that was a bonus. You do have to write a diary though saying what was discussed in each lecture, so you have to turn up or get notes off someone else there, although they do take a register. Then you have to write a 1500 essay on something media and how it is interpreted related. Easy to pass if you turn up to the lectures which was on wed 12-2.
Does everyone have to do these CSPs? i didn't know that!! that sucks lol.... what about for law... cnt find anything on the website, obviously i didn't do my homework properly before applying :frown:
Reply 12
pinkfairybeth
Does everyone have to do these CSPs? i didn't know that!! that sucks lol.... what about for law... cnt find anything on the website, obviously i didn't do my homework properly before applying :frown:

quite a lot of unis do it- just bumps up ur credit so u can pass for the yr:smile: Plus it'll make u meet loads more people!! :p:
xxx
Reply 13
Not everyone has to do CSPs i know medics don't, but I'm not sure about any others. It all depends on what subjects you do, as to how many CSP's you have to do to make up your credits. I only had to do 2 all year, other people i know have had to do 4.
It depends on what combination you have with Law.

My friend who does Law & Maths doesn't have to do any CSPs, though my other two friends, one who does Law & Music and the other who does Law & English, have to take CSPs worth up to twenty credits, I think.
Just typed big reply and lost it :s
Anyway the gist was:
Audio Elec - Bad unless maths genius.
Website cons - Boring for CS/IS/People who have that sort of hobby. Therefore poss. quite easy if u already know HTML/CSS basics.
Stars + Universe - Interesting when it gets going, exam at the end. Lecturer is funny - please someone ask him a question about the Hitchhiker's Guide which relates (loosely) to the lecture.
Inventions + Soc - Again, some boring, some interesting. Poster session which is peer assessed. Don't feel pressured into giving people 5/5 when you don't think they should get it. If a pint in the union would tip the balance, say so :wink::P
Reply 16
i am thinking about taking spanish and french as my CPS. french at highest level then spanish at beginnes. should be quite easy for me cos i am learning spanish now. dont know. i wish there were more languages available. i d also like to do TEFL, if possible. i wish there were more languages available [particularly arabic]. it is such a shame that keele doesnt have a good foreign languages department that offers a broad variety. at least i could do Arabic not as a part of CSP but on my [free?] time:P other than that i am annoyed with the American Studies Department cos i emailed them about a week ago and they havent replied
It's the Easter vacation - if you haven't heard back in the first week of May then get back to them.
There are Russian and Japanese CSPs. That's diverse.
Reply 19
Think carefully before doing a language, you HAVE to go to all the lectures and do loads of out of class work inorder to pass. If you fail the first term exams its fine as you can take them with your second term exams, but if you fail your second term exams you are screwed. You have to pass ALL exams inorder to pick up the 20 credits, if you suck there is no 10 credit option.

In conclusion if you choose to so a language, choose a level which you can already do. And dont choose japanese (I have a friend who's brother is fluent and she is still only barely scraping passes with her brothers help)