Postgraduate Course: Principles and practice of research design for global health (GLHE11088)
Course Outline
| School | Deanery of Molecular, Genetic and Population Health Sciences |
College | College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This course will equip students with a practical and theoretical grounding in research and enquiry processes, within the wider context of interdisciplinary global health. Students will have an opportunity to design and execute an academic literature review and to develop and critically reflect on a research project proposal applicable to either an academic or professional domain.
Students will critically reflect upon their own skills and how these are developing. The course runs in year one of the programme so that all students, even those intending to exit the programme at certificate or diploma level, are equipped with foundational research skills. This will not only support student engagement in subsequent elective courses but will also be transferable to the non-academic research contexts students may encounter in their professional roles.
|
| Course description |
This five-week, ten credit course is built around the following themes:
Research paradigms: we introduce students to the concept of research paradigms, broadly categorised as quantitative and qualitative, and the ontological, epistemological and methodological underpinnings of each.
Core research literature skills: searching academic research databases to identify relevant academic literature, processes of sifting and critiquing the literature, an understanding of why it is important to ground research in the wider literature, and an understanding different types and purposes of literature reviews.
Principles of research ethics and ethical research practice: we introduce the principles of research ethics and consider the ethical considerations and challenges when undertaking research across disciplines and cultures.
Research questions: Students are invited to explore the concept of a research question and to articulate what makes a ¿good¿ research question. We look at how research questions are translated into actionable research objectives. We explore potential tensions between the way in which research questions are framed and the framing of priorities articulated by global health practitioners and policy-makers.
Interdisciplinarity and wicked problems: Global health problems, issues and challenges rarely fit neatly into clear disciplinary siloes, so global health research, if it is to be relevant and actionable, must arguably also embrace the challenges of interdisciplinarity. We consider the ways in which research methods and epistemology will change how a research question and research objectives are framed, and the implications of this for research outputs and agendas. Students explore approaches to addressing these challenges.
Critical thinking: A cross-cutting theme running throughout the course is critical engagement and the importance of cultivating a questioning attitude to the literature, to research methodologies and to one's own assumptions and research practices. The development of critical thinking skills is characterised as a journey: as students develop expertise in a subject, the depth and sophistication of their critical skills will also grow. We introduce students to the concept critical appraisal and discipline-specific critical appraisal frameworks.
This is a core course for students on the MSc Integrated Global Health. These students come from a diverse range of academic and professional backgrounds, with differing levels of experience of different forms of academic and professional research. An important part of this course is therefore to create an opportunity for students to reflect on their own background and what skills they would like to develop, both in terms of preparing themselves to undertake a dissertation and more broadly, for their own professional practice. Students on the MSc Integrated Global Health programme will have an opportunity during the course to learn about the wide range of elective courses open to them in year two of the programme, so that they can start to think about how to align their interests and priorities with their elective course choices and dissertation topic.
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | Course is fully online so students are responsible for their own computer and internet connection. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Flexible |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 5,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 1,
Online Activities 35,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 5,
Formative Assessment Hours 5,
Revision Session Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
46 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
1. Research proposal (80 %) comprises:«br /»
a. Critical literature review, providing relevant background on the topic and leading logically to a clearly defined research question (formulating the problem to be investigated), and research objectives (the research methods and steps that will be taken to answer the research question);«br /»
b. Critical reflection on the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed approach;«br /»
c. Clear consideration given to ethical and feasibility dimensions. «br /»
«br /»
2. Critical reflection (20 %) comprises reflection on:«br /»
a. the process of planning a research project, including research ethics;«br /»
b. students' own learning throughout this process;«br /»
c. challenges of global health research at the intersection of disciplines and the tensions between research and policy/practice approaches and priorities.«br /»
«br /»
Formative assessment: students will receive tutor and peer feedback on regular reflective blog posts, which will feed into both components of summary assessment.«br /»
|
| Feedback |
Feedback on assignment 1 (Research proposal): Feedback will focus on the extent to which the student has:
- designed, executed and described a well-structured literature search;
- chosen appropriate literature for inclusion in the literature review;
- critically appraised the literature;
- constructed a well-crafted piece of academic writing, which clearly justifies the choice of research question;
- defined a clear and answerable research question, informed by the literature review, and translated this into appropriate and feasible research objectives and research methodology;
- demonstrated criticality in reflecting on the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed research project;
- demonstrated an understanding of ethical considerations throughout the research process.
Feedback on assignment 2 (Critical reflection): Feedback will focus on the extent to which the student has demonstrated:
- critical understanding and engagement with course topics;
- reflexivity;
- an understanding of the ethical and practical challenges of developing an interdisciplinary project.
Formative feedback: Students will receive formative tutor feedback on regular reflective blog posts and will also receive, and be encouraged to offer, peer feedback to others. Feedback will focus on:
- the same topics as outlined for summative feedback above (practical feedback on the process of conducting a literature review, encouragement of critical thinking and reflexivity);
- encouraging students to use the opportunity for reflection to begin articulating future plans for their time on the programme, specifically in relation to the choice of elective courses and potential dissertation topics/methodologies.
|
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate applied research skills.
- Identify and respond to the complexity of global health issues, making informed judgements about approaches to research/enquiry across disciplinary boundaries.
|
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
This course addresses the Graduate Attribute of Research and enquiry across a number of domains, most notably: knowledge integration and application and handling complexity and ambiguity.
|
| Keywords | integrated,interdisciplinary,global health |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Suzanne Goopy
Tel:
Email: sgoopy@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Suzanne Newall
Tel: (0131 6)50 3237
Email: Suzanne.Newall@ed.ac.uk |
|
|
University Homepage