Postgraduate Course: Researching Higher Education (REDU11067)
Course Outline
| School | Moray House School of Education |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Research (EDU) |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | This course on Researching Higher Education has been designed to dovetail with the 10 credit course Research Design in Higher Education that examines overarching aspects of research design. The intention is that cumulatively the courses Reading and Analysing the literature on Higher Education, Researching Higher Education, Research Design in Higher Education, together with the dissertation will give participants a sound foundation for conducting research in their workplaces and/or for entry to doctoral study.
The course explores the philosophical underpinnings of quantitative, qualitative research and mixed methods research and introduces students to the diversity of practice that is subsumed under the title of ¿qualitative research¿ or ¿quantitative research.¿ Consideration is also given to the contrasting value positions and researcher stances that may drive inquiries into higher education. Central emphasis is given to exploring approaches to, and the practicalities of, data gathering and analysis. A key concern here is to bring participants to connect up general issues and debates in the literature on research methods with the day-to-day realities of their own practice. To assist in establishing connections between theoretical frameworks and personal research practice, learning/teaching activities tend to centre on moving from the examination of participants¿ own experiences in small-scale exercises in data collection and analysis to the consideration of general issues in the methodology literature. Attention is also given to considering the kinds of research claims that different approaches to research can make.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. 1. demonstrate the capacity to draw on relevant literature on research in an analytical fashion to frame their own research inquiries and to consider issues that arise in everyday research practice;
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2. display an analytical approach to issues in, and the practices of, producing and analysing data;
3.
3.display a well-argued personal interpretation of issues and controversies in the methodological literature;
4.
4.show the capacity to analyse data to the standards expected at Masters¿ level study;
5.
5.demonstrate the capacity to reflect in a well-principled manner on ethical issues in conducting research, analysing data and reporting.
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Assessment Information
Report of a small-scale research project or exercise in analysis: 4,000 words.
Students are expected to engage in group-based analyses on both quantitative and qualitative data on which peer and tutor feedback are provided. These exercises and the feedback provided feed directly into the final assessment task. The final assessment task involves students undertaking a mini- research project or analysing an existing data-set, quantitative or qualitative, where a clear rationale is provided for the specific actions taken and general methodological issues are addressed. In other words the project or analysis exercise serves not only to provide practice in research, but also to be a vehicle for the consideration of wider methodological debates in analysis and concerns. Feed-forward commentary will be provided on a draft report. |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods research?
Researcher stance
Reflexivity
Research ethics
Interviewing
Survey research
Observation
Researching virtual spaces and students¿ online experiences
Analysing quantitative data
Thematic approaches to analysing qualitative data
Generalisability
Validity and Reliability
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| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Charles Anderson
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | |
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