Postgraduate Course: Research Methods (MSc in Digital Education) (REDU11063)

Course Outline
School	Moray House School of Education	College	College of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)	SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)
Course type	Online Distance Learning	Availability	Available to all students
SCQF Credits	20	ECTS Credits	10
Summary	This course will give students the framework and contextual knowledge they need in order to plan, design and execute a programme of independent research for the dissertation element of the MSc in Digital Education. The course will enable students to formulate a research question and an outline project plan. It will give them key skills in research design and enable them to position their own programme of research within the broader context of social science enquiry. It will introduce them to data collection and analysis and to key methods for analysing both quantitative data and qualitative research texts.
Course description	Not entered

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites		Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	None
Additional Costs	Regular access to a networked computer is required.

Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites	None

Course Delivery Information

Academic year 2014/15, Available to all students (SV1)		Quota: None
Course Start	Semester 1
Course Start Date	15/09/2014
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 2, Online Activities 25, Formative Assessment Hours 6, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 163 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	Part 1 (20%): Participants will work with an existing set of either qualitative or quantitative data, chosen from a range of possible sets. They will perform some simple analysis and/or interpretation directed towards answering a series of questions posed about the data. Results of the analysis will be written up as a brief report. (1000 words) Part 2 (30%): A short critical review of a piece of published research. (1000 words) Part 3 (50%): Presentation of a research proposal for the dissertation, including the research question to be addressed, critical discussion of the methodology to be used, and an outline of how data will be collected and analysed (if relevant). The proposal will also include a provisional project plan outlining key milestones and timescales for the various stages of the project. (2000 words)
Feedback	Not entered
No Exam Information

Academic year 2014/15, Available to all students (SV1)		Quota: None
Course Start	Semester 2
Course Start Date	12/01/2015
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 2, Online Activities 25, Formative Assessment Hours 6, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 163 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	Part 1 (20%): Participants will work with an existing set of either qualitative or quantitative data, chosen from a range of possible sets. They will perform some simple analysis and/or interpretation directed towards answering a series of questions posed about the data. Results of the analysis will be written up as a brief report. (1000 words) Part 2 (30%): A short critical review of a piece of published research. (1000 words) Part 3 (50%): Presentation of a research proposal for the dissertation, including the research question to be addressed, critical discussion of the methodology to be used, and an outline of how data will be collected and analysed (if relevant). The proposal will also include a provisional project plan outlining key milestones and timescales for the various stages of the project. (2000 words)
Feedback	Not entered
No Exam Information

Learning Outcomes
On completion of the course students will be able to: demonstrate an awareness of the key epistemological issues in social science research identify appropriate research questions and how they might be addressed by particular methodological approaches locate and critically evaluate relevant literature engage with a range of data collection methods have a critical awareness of issues relating to research reliability and validity, and ethical considerations demonstrate specialist skills in the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data effectively plan a programme of research demonstrate an awareness of academic conventions in the presentation of research

Reading List
None

Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills	Not entered
Keywords	research, methods, digital, online, education

Contacts
Course organiser	Dr Jen Ross Tel: (0131 6)51 6133 Email: jen.ross@ed.ac.uk	Course secretary	Ms Angela Hunter Tel: (0131 6)51 1196 Email: Angela.Hunter@ed.ac.uk