module specification

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 students to re-visit their teaching and learning on their 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 students to complete a substantive student led piece of work. Students will have scope to develop their 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.

● 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

Teaching is via 18 taught workshops reflecting the indicative syllabus, experiential Classroom off Campus activity, independent research study opportunities and 8 individual dissertation supervision tutorials.

All teaching and learning activities will be dialogical and encourage decolonial thinking and questioning.

On successful completion of the module students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate an advanced critical 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. An extended literature Review
or
b. A small Pilot Study
4. Produce a fluent and coherent written or audio-visual piece of work that generates innovative and evidence-informed knowledges relevant to social work practice and reflecting critically on the process of learning.

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.

There will be formative annotated literature review of 800 words in week 8. Whilst this will not be formally marked, the feedback provided will support the development of your research proposal.

The first summative assessment will be the formulation of a 1,500 work Research Proposal including an annotated literature review submitted 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 (although this is not assessed). 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 be a project which 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 the yourself and agreed with the Dissertation Tutor. You will then: 

● Write a 9,000 word Dissertation based on a Literature Review or original small scale pilot study
or
● Produce a fluent audio and/or visual piece of work that generates evidence-informed knowledges relevant to social work practice accompanied by a 4,000 word written piece critically reflecting on the research process and own learning

http://Research Mindedness reading list link