What will I learn on this module?
This module is a 60-credit module which will be delivered across your programme (3 semesters) and is designed to provides a process which will enable you to use and extend the knowledge and skills you have acquired during your programme of study. Using appropriate research methodologies and data collection methods, you will critically synthesise a body of knowledge relevant to the taught programme and apply this to an area relevant to your continued career development in the area of project management.
We will build your confidence as researchers through a mix of research tutored, research oriented and research led activities using the professional and academic knowledge of the teaching team and encourage you to a process of research-based learning to apply your learning. In addition to the taught sessions and tutorials you will also gain access to a wide range of e-learning materials including video and podcast to enable you to study at a place and pace most suitable to you.
Semester 1 and 2
Academic and Employability Skills
The main purpose of this strand is to develop your academic confidence including using the wide range of learning resources available to you, academic reading, writing and study effectiveness. You will also develop your ability to analyse and use the source material and develop your language and communication skills to a higher level. In addition, through the learning tasks, a number of employability skills are developed, including life-long learning, professional and career development, communication skills, intercultural competence, collaboration, teamworking, digital and information literacy, critical thinking, ethical practice, reflection, self-management, decision-making, problem-solving, planning and organising.
Indicative topics and skills
• Professional and career development
• Using Northumbria Learning Resources
• Critical thinking and writing
• Time management (when studying and beyond)
• Reflective thinking and writing
• Communicating through e-mail / messenger
• Critical approaches to reading
• Selecting suitable information and notetaking
• Incorporating information from sources (paraphrasing and summarising)
• Acknowledging sources (citations and references)
• Developing an appropriate academic style
• Report writing
• Presentation skills
• Citing and referencing in presentations and posters
• Effective teamworking
• Advanced search skills
• Ethical use of sources
• Selecting and using digital reference management tools
• Synthesising information from multiple sources
You will also develop employability skills (based on 7i graduate outcomes) and be encouraged to attend additional careers and employability workshops organised by our Careers Team.
Semester 2:
Research Methods
The research methods strand will develop your knowledge and understanding of learning about identifying a project management problem, undertaking a critical literature review, designing appropriate research methodology and developing a research proposal that will lead into the dissertation stage.
Indicative topics
• Understanding project management research and problems,
• Defining a research problem and smart research objectives,
• Ethics in research and data protection laws.
• Undertaking a critical analysis of existing and up-to-date literature from a range of reliable academic and professional sources.
• Research methodology for project management (quantitative and qualitative, etc.)
• Selection, justification and application of an appropriately rigorous research methodology and methodologies (quantitative and qualitative, etc.) to your chosen research. Instrument development and testing.
• Hypotheses testing and other data analysis for computing.
• Application of statistical package or similar for data analysis.
• Dissertation proposal writing (developing topic and scope, purpose, structure and content of literature review / methodology sections)
Semester 3
This will be a culmination of your knowledge and understanding of your Master's degree in your chosen discipline. Specifically, you will work alongside an academic tutor to complete a major research project. This will include attending individual and group project supervision and guidance sessions in which you will develop further the skill required to complete a project management-related research enquiry. This strand provides a process which will enable you to use and extend the knowledge and skills you have acquired during your programme of study. Using appropriate research methodologies and data collection methods, you will critically synthesise a body of knowledge relevant to the taught programme and apply this to an area relevant to your continued career development in the area of project management.
Indicative topics covered include:
• Identification and justification for the choice of topic to research
• The rationale of a research
• Defining a research problem and smart research objectives,
• Ethics in research and data protection laws.
• Undertaking a critical analysis of existing and up-to-date literature from a range of reliable academic and professional sources
• Selection, justification and application of an appropriately rigorous research methodology and methodologies (quantitative and qualitative, etc.) to your chosen research
• Using reliable valid research instruments
• Justification of chosen tools and technologies to produce practical solution to the problem
• Collect and analyse data/ information from a range of primary and secondary data and professionally present the findings of the research
• Demonstrate understanding of data analysis software tools such as SPSS or similar, etc
• Critical analysis and discussion of the findings
• Explicit links between the analysis and the conclusions supported by critical argument
• Evidence of original work or thought for example in the form or context of the data collected, analytical process or application of findings
• Develop and write a professional academic report
How will I learn on this module?
The module is a 60-credit module with expected total learning hours of 600 hours, the majority of which expects you to carry out independent research and write a major dissertation report in semester 3. However, you will also attend taught sessions each semester to ensure you have scaffolded support to ensure your transition from teaching to dissertation research is smooth. These taught sessions are also designed to develop your graduate and employability skills.
Academic Skills and Employability Support (Semester 1 and 2)
The emphasis in terms of academic skills and employability will be on the development of reflective practice including its practical deployment, experience of writing critically and being able to demonstrate reflective practice and experiential learning within the development of this writing. Equally, explicit development of and practice in everyday academic skills such as those involved with presentations (preparation and presentation) and time management. Throughout this module, students will explore the significance of continual learning and craft a personalized plan for their professional growth and career advancement.
In the second semester, the development of academic skills will continue as will the development of wider employability skills. In addition in semester two you will develop your postgraduate research skills
Research Methods Support (Semester 2)
The research method strand will be via 2 hours of weekly seminars sessions and guided and independent learning.
Throughout, the emphasis will be on high levels of participation, both individually and within small groups or teams. Most classes will be workshop or seminar based facilitating practice and experimentation with the methods and techniques covered. This will equip you with the knowledge and practical skills necessary for you to conduct research at Master’s level and prepare you to complete a Master’s Research Project. By the end of the module, you will know how to choose a research methodology and apply in the relevant computing related problem area. In addition, you will gain some understanding of research ethics and you will be able to write a research proposal to bring these ideas together. Furthermore, this module will provide clear, critical, and analysis of data, where you will be introduced to analytics software such as SPSS or similar.
In semester three you will undertake your final research project. You will learn through a combination of online dissertation workshops, one-to-one supervision with a member of the academic staff, supervisor-directed study and independent study and research.
An introductory research project workshop will set the broader scene and stages of the master's project and will be led by a team under the leadership of the project coordinator. The workshop will broadly discuss staged research learnings e.g.- developing a refined research problem and smart objectives, undertaking a critical literature review, choosing appropriate research methodology, applying relevant analysis to the data, and presenting and discussing the results and overall report layout.
Key messages from these sessions will also be available through online learning materials including video/podcasts to support your learning outside of the classroom.
In addition, a range of resources and samples etc are made available via VLE and you will be directed to independent learning. Directed learning will include activities such as pre-reading and preparation for supervision meetings, defending your progress etc. Independent learning will centre upon you identifying and pursuing areas of interest in relation to your subject area. Critical reflection on knowledge, experience and practice underpins the learning and teaching philosophy along with the explicit development of competence. However, you will also extend to advanced independent study which entails reading beyond the learning materials/reading list provided and reflecting on its potential relevance for your development.
The virtual learning environment will be used to encourage individual and group contributions to the debate on key topics and issues. Materials and discussion group work will be available on the e-learning portal to support and engage you. To support and embed the learning, provide the opportunity for reflection, and encourage effective communication, you will engage in discussion forums via the University’s e-Learning platform. This will include posing and answering topic-specific questions posed by the tutor and peer group and providing peer group formative feedback. You will also be encouraged to use email and discussion board tools to clarify issues.
Your attendance/engagement will be monitored during the research project stage.
How will I be supported academically on this module?
A range of approaches are adopted to accelerate your learning in this dissertation module.
You will learn through a combination of Seminars, workshops, and activities delivered by seminar tutors.
You will also be allocated an academic supervisor at the end of Semester Two. This supervisor will organise supervisory meetings, where you are expected to produce weekly work as per directed research activities. Your attendance/engagement will be monitored during the dissertation stage.
During the meetings, you shall show your work and gain formative feedback from your supervisor. Please note that your supervisor will provide formative feedback on one full chapter of your dissertation and also give feedback on other chapter outlines, but your supervisor will not read full drafts of the research project.
Whilst the research project aims to encourage your ownership of your study and show independence in learning & research, the supervisor will provide ongoing support by guiding you through the process.
E-Reading Lists
The module will also have an e-reading list which directs learners to specific reading for each session. This includes direct access to repositories, journal articles and other academic sources. You will also be provided with access to a significant set of academic research sources via the Northumbria University library portal.
You will also have opportunities to receive formative feedback from your tutor in response to opinions you express and issues you raise during workshop sessions and face-to-face or online tutorials. These formative feedback sessions are formally scheduled at key points throughout the module.
What will I be expected to read on this module?
All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)
What will I be expected to achieve?
Knowledge & Understanding:
KU1 Demonstrate critical knowledge and understanding of choosing, justifying and implementing an appropriate & systematic research methodology and methods for the successful completion of a major project management-related research project in a given time and resources.
KU2 Knowledge and understanding of a range of hard and soft skills and competencies required for research, employability, and entrepreneurship.
Intellectual / Professional Skills & Abilities:
IPSA1. Critically appraise existing project management knowledge and identify areas that can improve aspects of project delivery for stakeholders through the application of project management theory or practice.
IPSA2 Critically reflect upon approaches to problem-solving on real life projects, in order to evaluate, learn from, and adopt similar, appropriate, solutions in future professional practice
Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
PVA1 Demonstrate curiosity and critical awareness of professional, ethical, social, legal and sustainability issues in research and also about the processes involved in the research, including reflection upon your own ethical values, job relevant skills, meeting targets, self-direction, originality, independence and the contribution of the research to the topic area.
How will I be assessed?
This module uses a subject-based assessment approach, encouraging or directly enabling you to bring your career context or learning experience into the module.
Formative Assessment
Formative assessment of your academic, employability and research knowledge & understanding and skills as demonstrated in your submitted assignments, is a key component of the assessment strategy
You shall bring your work during seminar activities to your tutors during the first two semesters and then to your dissertation supervisor during supervision meetings and receive formative assessment feedback. You should take this feedback on board, self-reflect and read further and refine your work to demonstrate independent learning.
Your project proposal will be formally reviewed by your project supervisor and an appointed second marker. This will serve to confirm your project is viable and provide your formative feedback upon your intended project.
You will also receive verbal or written feedback on your draft dissertation from your supervisor.
Summative Assessment
There are three assessments in this module.
Sem1: (MLO2)
An academic report on employment, career and entrepreneurial opportunities within your specialism including a personal development plan (PDP). Submitted at the end of semester 1. (1500 words). 10% weighting of total marks.
Sem 2: (MLO1,2,3)
A Research proposal (1500 words) on a topic related to your specialism and as approved by your tutor. This is weighted 10% of the total marks in this module.
Sem 3: (MLO1-5)
A 12000-word Dissertation and project poster (80% of the total marks).
You will receive summative feedback followed by written comments on the submitted proposal which will indicate areas for improvement. Formative feedback will continue via supervision meetings and summative feedback will be provided following the marking of the dissertation.
Pre-requisite(s)
Progression on dissertation is dependent on passing 120 taught credits.
Module abstract
This module is a 60-credit module which will be delivered across your programme (3 semesters) and is designed to build your confidence and capabilities as a postgraduate student, and researcher and have the graduate skills to progress into high-skilled employment.
You will complete three strands.
In Semester 1, you will start to develop your academic and employability Skills. In Semester 2 study will focus on developing your presentation skills, effective teamworking, and advanced search skills as well raise your confidence to be able to synthesise information from multiple sources. You will also learn about how to structure your dissertation proposal (e.g., developing topic and scope, purpose, structure and content of literature review/methodology sections). Employability skills (based on 7i graduate outcomes) will also be developed and you will be introduced to a range of additional careers and employability workshops organised by our Careers Team. Alongside developing your academic and employability skills, you will also be taught research skills designed to prepare you for your final major project/dissertation. This will then lead to the allocation of a research supervisor who will work with you as you complete your final research project/dissertation.
