Unit name | Core Skills in Educational Research |
---|---|
Unit code | EDUCM5501 |
Credit points | 0 |
Level of study | M/7 |
Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52) |
Unit director | Dr. Sue Timmis |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | School of Education |
Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit is designed to ensure that students about to embark upon a research degree have acquired the core skills necessary to access information from the library, and the web; particularly the electronic sources that are available. Students will also be assessed as to their level in word processing and use of e-mail etc. and provided with suitable workshops to enhance these skills. More cognitive generic skills such as critical thinking, originality, particularly as applied to reading and reviewing the literature. All these aspects will be addressed within the general context of starting out on a research programme with the need to turn ideas into researchable questions.
Aims:
The aims of the unit are:
At the end of the unit students will be able to demonstrate:
A variety of teaching methods will be employed and include:
There will formative assessment throughout the practical laboratory classes, centred around a critical evaluation of an appropriate, published journal article of an empirical study in the area the student proposes to pursue. The following framework will guide this evaluation:
Blaxter, L, Hughes, C and Tight, M (2001) How to Research (2nd Ed.), Buckingham: Open University Press
Cryer, P (2000) Research Students’ Guide to Success (2nd Ed.), Buckingham: Open University Press
Locke, LF, Silverman, SJ and Spirduso, WW (1998) Reading and Understanding Research, London; Sage
Wisker, G (2001) The Postgraduate Research Handbook: Succeed with your MA, M.Phil, Ed.D and Ph.D, Palgrave Study Guides; MacMillan
Documentation Information Services, University of Bristol: http://www.bris.ac.uk/is/selfhelp/documentation/docs-by-category.htm