INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the Dissertation in an Aspect of Professional Practice module. This module introduces you to a range of methodologies, which will enable you to design a small-scale enquiry, which is pertinent to your interests and work place. You will gain an understanding of the philosophies and practices of systematic enquiry in education-related fields and their application within professional and pedagogic contexts.
MODULE AIMS
• To develop critical understanding of relevant theories, appropriate methodologies, knowledge of self and responsibilities as a professional, to facilitate the development of a personal perspective on significant, philosophical, pedagogic and professional issues which pertain to Early Years, Education or Special Educational Needs;
• To encourage, with guidance, engagement with a problematic issue, and the ethical undertaking required of a small-scale systematic enquiry, including the critical evaluation of appropriate contexts from a wide range of sources, promoting critical reflections on enhancing children and young people’s learning and development in the work place;
• To deploy higher order thinking skills of analysis, extrapolation, synthesis and judgement in the development of a purposeful valid argument, supported by relevant substantiating processes to demonstrate critical understanding, while recognising the uncertainties, ambiguities and limits of claims to knowledge;
• To extend skills of reflexivity and self-evaluation by assessing the implications of the procedural and syntactical elements of a small-scale study.
MODULE LEARNING OUTCOMES
On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:
- accurately and confidently use appropriate techniques of enquiry, analysis and exposition to elucidate a teaching and learning issue;
- show awareness of the social construction of knowledge and a readiness to reconsider definitive judgments or apply critical awareness of existing interpretations to new contexts;
- demonstrate increased confidence in the self-management of a small-scale study in the context of the workplace, within agreed guidelines;
- obtain information in complex and unpredictable contexts and apply appropriate knowledge and methodologies to the tentative, provisional resolution of an issue or problem;
- demonstrate personal responsibility for maintaining sensitivity in the acquisition and analysis of data and/or aesthetic experiences and worked within professional codes of conduct, including guidelines and procedures for ethical considerations, with particular reference to colleagues and learners in educational settings.
TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES
You have been preparing for this final dissertation module through ongoing reflections of the skills, knowledge and criticality you have developed on each of the modules you have studied so far. For your dissertation proposal you will identify an area of interest for which you will design a small-scale enquiry. Each proposed issue or question will be subject to on-going rigorous review. In addition, initial undertakings will be subjected to tutor guidance in the earliest stages; this includes completing a brief outline of your proposed inquiry (which must be uploaded onto Canvas and approved by your supervising lecturer before you commence the research design). Close attention will be paid to the sharing of substantive and procedural issues which are commonly encountered by the novice researcher. You will be encouraged to work with increasing autonomy and to take responsibility for your own learning by monitoring your progress in relation to the specified requirements in each phase of your dissertation. Teaching and learning strategies will include lectures both synchronous and asynchronous which will enhance your understanding of a range of inquiry processes, techniques of data analysis and qualities of academic writing for the purposes of structuring and communicating the potential outcomes of the investigation. It is essential that you read and draw on a wide range of research books when exploring your methodology and methods which you will draw on when collecting data in addition to literature that will inform your research area.
You will be required to engage with all taught sessions and to account for your progress at regular collaborative tutorials with your nominated supervising lecturer.accurately and confidently use appropriate techniques of enquiry, analysis and exposition to elucidate a teaching and learning issue
show awareness of the social construction of knowledge and a readiness to reconsider definitive judgments or apply critical awareness of existing interpretations to new contexts;
demonstrate increased confidence in the self-management of a small-scale study in the context of the workplace, within agreed guidelines;
obtain information in complex and unpredictable contexts and apply appropriate knowledge and methodologies to the tentative, provisional resolution of an issue or problem;
demonstrate personal responsibility for maintaining sensitivity in the acquisition and analysis of data and/or aesthetic experiences and worked within professional codes of conduct, including guidelines and procedures for ethical considerations, with particular reference to colleagues and learners in educational settings.
