Unit rationale, description and aim
This unit is the first of four in the Allied Health Honours program. Honours programs provide undergraduate students with the opportunity to learn how to conduct research, to develop more advanced professional knowledge and skills, and to enter higher degree programs by research at Masters and PhD levels. Research skills are critical for the development of evidence based practice and policy that ensures quality care of individuals, families and communities requiring allied health and social services.
Research requires multiple steps with the first step being to appraise current literature which is addressed in the unit. Appraisal of the literature informs planning, designing, implementing, and interpreting research.
The overall aim of this unit is to develop students' knowledge and skills in exploration and appraisal of the literature to inform the development of a research question. Students will apply skills in acquiring, critical appraisal and synthesis of research literature, academic writing and use of referencing systems in order to present the relevance of key findings, identify gaps in research knowledge and derive implications for clinical practice.
A key outcome of this unit will be a comprehensive literature review that provides a background and rationale for each student's research project and proposes the research aim, question(s) and/or hypotheses as appropriate to be addressed by that project. The literature review will be included in each student's Honours thesis, which they will complete in their final Honours unit. Students will be supported in this unit by working closely with their supervisor(s) throughout the semester.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Identify, critically review and synthesise availab...
Learning Outcome 01
Formulate research question/s, aim/s and/or hypoth...
Learning Outcome 02
Effectively communicate the findings of the litera...
Learning Outcome 03
Content
Topics will include:
Understanding and optimising the supervisory process
Self care and time management
Conducting and reporting a literature search
· Planning and undertaking systematic literature searches
· Identifying and using relevant electronic data bases
Critically appraising and synthesising the literature
· Conducting appraisal processes appropriate to research design
· Synthesising literature findings and identifying research gaps
· Defining a research question
Communicating research processes and outcomes
· Writing in a scientific and scholarly manner
· Presenting in a clear and comprehensive manner in both oral and written modes
· Understanding thesis guidelines
Research ethical principles
· Understanding international human rights principles governing research conducted upon human participants
· Understanding National Health and Medical Research Council Guidelines on Research Conducted upon Human Subjects
Assessment strategy and rationale
This unit adopts an authentic assessment approach by requiring students to demonstrate application of acquired research knowledge and skills to an individual research project and with high level research communication skills. The assessment strategies for this unit consist of a literature search report, a comprehensive literature review, including critical review, and an oral presentation. First, the literature search report will demonstrate the students’ ability to locate and summarise relevant literature and readiness to write the literature review. The second assessment task is presentation of findings from the literature review and research questions, aims and/or hypotheses provides opportunity for feedback to refine and determine the scope of the research project. The final assessment task is the literature review which will situate students’ individual research projects within the context of current research and knowledge. This assessment is consistent with the ACU Guidelines for Honours Programs that stipulates that the final thesis submitted for an honours degree must include a literature review (7.1, 11.1).
Overview of assessments
Written task: Enables student to undertake and re...
Written task: Enables student to undertake and report a rigorous data base search strategy for a research topic and summarise 5-10 key articles as an annotated bibliography or in a summative table.
15%
Oral presentation: Enables students to present in...
Oral presentation: Enables students to present information about a research gap and research project questions, aims or hypotheses, and gain feedback.
35%
Written assignment: Enables students to write a c...
Written assignment: Enables students to write a comprehensive, critical review of the literature.
50%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
In this unit students will acquire theoretical and technical content in lectures and discuss how to use and apply this knowledge in tutorials. Students will work both independently and in collaboration with the LIC, tutors and their supervisor(s). Students are expected to take responsibility for their learning and will be mentored and supported by their supervisor(s) in regular meetings to discuss and clarify development of their literature review. This learning and teaching strategy will support students to develop and apply research knowledge and skills to their individual research project with increasing autonomy.
This unit involves 150 hours of learning with a combination of face-to-face, online and independent learning activities, and assessment tasks.