SW6P03 - Becoming Research Minded for Practice (2023/24)
| Module specification | Module approved to run in 2023/24 | ||||||||||
| Module title | Becoming Research Minded for Practice | ||||||||||
| Module level | Honours (06) | ||||||||||
| Credit rating for module | 30 | ||||||||||
| School | School of Social Sciences and Professions | ||||||||||
| Total study hours | 300 | ||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
| Assessment components |
|
||||||||||
| Running in 2023/24(Please note that module timeslots are subject to change) |
|
Module summary
To be research minded is to have the ability to use research to inform practice which counters unfair discrimination, racism, poverty, disadvantage and injustice - consistent with core social work values. This core module enables you to re-visit your teaching and learning on your course and will explore a range of different attributes to develop critical understandings of the application to social work research. This will include:
● An awareness of the value of research
● The ability to identify or generate appropriate sources of evidence
● An appreciation of different methods used to obtain and make sense of research knowledges
It requires you to complete a substantive student led piece of work. You will have scope to develop your critical analytical skills, engage with research processes and explore relevant subjects of personal and professional interest with a view to consolidating transferable skills for future employment.
Prior learning requirements
n/a
Syllabus
● What is ‘Knowledge’ and who legitimises it? The role of Western research in colonial knowledge production
● Developing ‘research mindedness’ for Social Work Practice and Social Justice
● Critical understanding of social research and evaluation processes
● Theoretical Frameworks and Ethics - anti-racist, anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive research approaches
● Skills for retrieving information from electronic and other academic sources and appraising sources
● Academic Skills for Research
● Effective research design: literature reviews & developing plans for small scale pilot study
● Practical issues of undertaking research
● Thematic analysis, and presentation of research knowledges
● Dealing with limitations, biases, reflection in research
Balance of independent study and scheduled teaching activity
Teaching is via 13 taught workshops reflecting the indicative syllabus, experiential Classroom off Campus activity, independent research study opportunities and 6 individual dissertation supervision tutorials.
All teaching and learning activities will be dialogical and encourage decolonial thinking and questioning.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of the module, you will be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of research processes
2. Formulate a research proposal and (where applicable) Ethics Approval Form identifying ethics and selected methodologies and methods.
3. Search and critically appraise academic literatures, organising data and evidence applying to
a. A literature Review
or
b. A small Pilot Study
4. Produce a fluently written piece of work, that may include audio-visual artefacts, that generates evidence-informed knowledges relevant to social work practice and reflecting critically on the process of learning
Assessment strategy
You will have the option to undertake secondary research in the form of a literature review, or original research in the form of a small-scale pilot study. The assessment strategy will promote critical curiosity and research mindedness, encourage research literacy as well as the development of research skills.
The formative assessment will be the formulation of a Research Proposal in week 13 where the use of methodology and methods are selected and ethics considered. Additionally, where appropriate a well-considered Ethics Approval Form will be submitted. Detailed supportive feed-forward and guidance will be provided by your allocated individual dissertation supervisor. No original research will be conducted unless Ethics Approval has been granted.
The summative assessment will enable you to independently research a topic of personal and professional interest within a wider social work context. The topic, title and mode of research will be chosen by you and agreed with your allocated Dissertation Tutor. You will then
● Write a 6000 word Dissertation based on a Literature Review or original small scale pilot study which generates evidence informed knowledges relevant to social work practice
or
● Produce a fluent audio and/or visual piece of work that generates evidence-informed knowledges relevant to social work practice accompanied by a 3000 word written piece critically reflecting on the research process and own learning