Module Content

Study Skills: Introduction to university study; Finding, evaluating and referencing sources for assignments; Introduction to critical analysis; Applying theory to practice; Writing for assessment; Learning from feedback; Self-reflection.

Research Skills: The nature and purpose of research; Designing research aims and objectives; Literature reviews; Epistemology and Ontology; Ethical considerations; Research strategies (quantitative/qualitative); Methodologies; Data collection methods and analysis (e.g. interviews, questionnaires); Consideration of validity, reliability and generalisability. Presentation of information.

Teaching Methods

Learning will be facilitated via participation in workshops, where a range of learning tools will be utilised. This will include formal tutor input, group work, mini projects, mini presentations, and working on the development of individual portfolios.
The portfolio assessment will emphasise the importance of students’ self-development in core academic competencies. This is an ideal method of assessment for the learning development aspect of the module as it does not rely on a criterion based formative assessment which could not measure the students’ development in relation to where they started.
The research skills sessions will give students a conceptual grounding in research methodologies as well as practical guidance for the design of a viable research project. Emphasis will be placed on the systematic nature of the research process so that students can see the links between philosophy, methodology, methods and data analysis.
The research proposal is designed to assess the students’ ability to both conduct a search and review of existing literature and design an appropriate research strategy.

Assessment Methods

This module is assessed through an examination and a portfolio.