| Unit name | Introduction to Educational Inquiry |
|---|---|
| Unit code | EDUCM5000 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52) Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Eagle |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | School of Education |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
Why is this unit important?
This core unit provides you with an introduction to educational research and the diversity of approaches, practice and conduct in the production of research. It will engage you in debates surrounding educational research and the important role educational research plays in developing educational policy and improving educational processes. Questions of what constitutes good educational research and research ethics are addressed and you will be encouraged to develop strategies to better understand and to critically examine the immense variety of educational research reported in books and journals. This unit provides an important foundation for you to both critically examine and conduct educational research throughout the rest of your MSc Education degree and prepares you to design, undertake and report on your own dissertation research project at the end of your studies.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study
Educational research is an interdisciplinary field and, accordingly, a wide range of research approaches and practices are employed. This unit will enable you to develop skills and confidence in comparing and contrasting the research approaches you encounter throughout your studies, including different epistemological and methodological traditions, and different values and criteria used to judge research. You will develop an understanding of and sensitivity to ethical issues with respect to the conduct of educational research itself and also to its use as research evidence. The unit offers a grounding in how to devise, design and undertake educational research, including research design, research questions, working with participants, ethical considerations, and methods of data collection and analysis. This will provide an important foundation from which you will build and develop your own research project through the Dissertation unit.
An overview of content
In this unit, you will study the diversity of research approaches, questions and related methods that are used in educational research, through examining research reported in journal articles, through studying texts on research methods and methodologies, and through practical exercises, group work and class discussions. You will learn how to develop a coherent proposal for a research project, including formulating a research question, critically reviewing the literature, making effective methodological choices for gathering information and techniques for analysis, and interpreting and disseminating the findings.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course a successful student will be able to:
Core learning
Practical tasks
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Each week, you will participate in a lecture and a seminar session. In the weekly seminar sessions, students will take part in a class activity which will lead to the development of a shared research proposal, on a topic of interest to the class. Lectures and readings prepare students for the seminar activities, and the class proposal is developed week by week. To support you in the assessment task, you will be encouraged and supported to develop your own research proposal in parallel to the activities in class, i.e. the seminar activities will support you to identify a topic of your own interest, to develop a researchable question, methodology, methods and dissemination etc.
During seminars, there will be formative assessment peer feedback and tutor comment provided on students’ development of their individual research proposal.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
An individual research proposal (3000 words) feasible for a research team and research period that you will specify. This proposal must be distinct from the research proposal that you will produce as part of the Dissertation unit. 100% ILOs 1-6
When assessment does not go to plan
When a student fails the unit and is eligible to resubmit, failed components will be reassessed on a like-for-like basis. Students will resubmit a revised version of the original work.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. EDUCM5000).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
