To make students aware of the resources available to them for pursuing their research;

To train students in the development of a well-structured and appropriately formulated research plan;

To develop students’ ability to present their research to others in a variety of academic and less academic contexts;

To provide supervision and advice to students in developing their dissertation project.

(LO1) Assess the relevance and rigor of secondary sources with relation to the student’s own research.

(LO2) Structure a practicable and challenging research project to be completed in a given time period.

(LO3) Explain clearly why a given research subject is original and relevant.

(LO4) Summarise their research thoroughly and effectively in a well-written abstract.

(LO5) Communicate effectively to a non-specialist audience regarding their research topic.

(S1) Information skills - critical reading.

(S2) Time and project management - project planning and organisation.

(S3) Research skills – all information skills.

(S4) Communication (oral, written and visual) - presentation skills – oral.

(S5) Communication (oral, written and visual) - presentation skills - written.

(S6) Communication (oral, written and visual) - academic writing (including referencing skills).

(S7) Communication (oral, written and visual) – writing for a general audience.

(S8) Critical thinking and problem solving - problem identification.

(S9) Skills in using technology - using common applications (work processing, databases, spreadsheets etc.).

(S10) Personal attributes and qualities - initiative.

(S11) Personal attributes and qualities - flexibility/adaptability.

The majority of teaching will be delivered face-to-face on campus. Online delivery will be used to complement the on-campus delivery and where technology affords a better learning experience.

Workshop
Guided group activities which may include critical assessment of a document or documents (either to develop critical reading skills or preparatory to producing a similar document), discussion of the criteria used in specific instances and of the best approach to writing in particular contexts, the planning and preparation of documents.

Presentation session
Presentations of work in progress to the rest of the cohort, to take place in week 6, and discussion of the work presented.

Supervision
Discussions with supervisors during the preparation of a feasibility study for the upcoming research project.

Weeks 1-6 will be general research skills preparation. Topics covered may include: introduction to the resources of the library; writing a critical literature review; presenting research to non-specialist audiences (e.g. The Conversation); abstract-writing; conference presentation. This section will conclude with a non-assessed presentation of the student’s work-in-progress in week 6.

Weeks 7-12 will constitute the feasibility study leading to the production of a research proposal for their upcoming dissertation. This will not include formal teaching but each student will be offered a total of 3 hours of supervision sessions (divided according to student need).