Undergraduate Course: Research Skills in Health Sciences (BIME10052)
Course Outline
| School | Deanery of Biomedical Sciences |
College | College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course provides an introduction to the range of research methodologies including data analysis employed in health science investigation from developing research questions through planning, conducting and analysing research data and its reporting and publication. This course will equip you with the core research and key transferrable skills to assist you during the Health Sciences programme. |
| Course description |
This course is made up of lectures and small group teaching and will provide up to date information covering the range of research methodologies including data analysis employed in health science investigation from developing research questions through planning, conducting and analysing research data using appropriate statistical methods and its reporting, communication and publication. This course will equip you with the core research and key transferable skills to assist you during the Health Sciences programme. The course is taken in conjunction with an associated 20-credit course comprising Scientific Frontiers of Medicine, Surgical Sciences or Primary Care and will enable students to gain a broad and selectively deeper understanding of the application of biomedical and clinical science in the practice of medicine.
This is a core component of the Intercalated BMedSci in Health Sciences. The course will cover the range of research methodologies employed in health science investigation from developing research questions through planning, conducting and analysing research data using appropriate statistical methods and its reporting, communication and publication. The course will equip students with core transferable research skills and understanding for the Health Sciences programme. The course will develop the ability of students to design, and conduct research in the area of Health Sciences and help them develop the skills and attributes required to plan and conduct a high quality research project that will be expected of them in semester 2.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 44 |
| Course Start |
Full Year |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 28,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 16,
Formative Assessment Hours 4,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
148 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
100 %,
Coursework
0 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Summative Assessment
The summative assessment will be in two parts:
1. The RSHS Statistics exam (30%)
This exam has a recommended completion time of 3 hours, with an additional 1 hour for submitting, your script electronically. The exam comprises short-answer questions specifically relating to statistics learning in semester 1. The assessment will be released on Learn at 9 am on the day of the exam. The usual teaching slot will be vacated on the morning of the exam to ensure that students are free on that date to complete the exam for submission of their scripts by the recommended deadline. Formative assessment exercises, model answers and an exam preparation session will be provided in semester 1 to equip students well for this exam.
2. End -of-year RSHS exam (70%)
The end-of-year RSHS exam in May is a 2-hour written exam. This will involve short-answer questions and relate to all remaining aspects of the Research Skills in Health Sciences course.
30% of the overall course mark will be awarded for the open-book statistics exam, which is an in-course assessment, and 70% for the end-of-year examination in May. |
| Feedback |
This course will provide students with many opportunities for feedback on their performance. This will be enhanced through committed student participation in discussions with peers and teachers around topics and session-related exercises.
At the end of each session, students will be requested to complete a short (usually 2-3 question) survey for per-session feedback. Overall course feedback is collected at the end of each semester.
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| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 2:00 | | | Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | Research Skills in Health Sciences Statistics Exam | 3:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Have a broad understanding of the range of techniques by which health-related issues are identified, investigated and analysed and the strength and scope of the inferences they support.
- Apply knowledge and understanding to choose with critical justification the most appropriate investigation and analysis methodologies in varied circumstances.
- Demonstrate understanding of the regulatory frameworks relevant to health sciences research, including the ability to recognise the relevant requirements and operate with the appropriate processes for planning and conducting research in varied circumstances.
- Make effective use of knowledge and understanding to plan research investigations (e.g., clinical trials or laboratory studies), with an awareness of the issues that impact the conduct of a study or interpretation of the results generated.
- Have increased confidence and competency as producers of statistics through preparation and analysis of research data and rigorous reporting of study findings.
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Learning Resources
University library
Review articles
Original relevant research journal articles
On-line resources
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
After completion of this course, students will be able to:
- Describe the generic investigative techniques and methodological tools that are broadly applicable to many areas of research in Health Sciences.
- Discuss the interpretation, evaluation and integration of results across a range of these methodologies.
- Apply knowledge and critical understanding of the theories, concepts and principles of research methodologies to a specific research question in Health Sciences.
- Apply knowledge and critical understanding to make an independent judgement of the robustness of published data in research papers as well as make judgements where data is limited or comes from various sources.
- Interpret, use and evaluate numerical and graphical research data
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| Keywords | Research skills,scientific methodology,laboratory,research,Healthcare,Patient,Project,Clinic |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Margaret MacDougall
Tel: (0131 6)50 3211
Email: Margaret.MacDougall@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr James Hunter
Tel: (0131 6)51 4064
Email: James.Hunter@ed.ac.uk |
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