OT7004 - Occupational Therapy Research Project

Your learning in this module will be primarily independent/self-directed, and you will have regular contact with your academic supervisor. You will be expected to prepare well for tutorials and send your academic supervisor information in advance of tutorials. Your academic supervisor will facilitate your reflection on your development through self and group directed study.

You will have the opportunity to participate in an enquiry-based learning approach that will promote peer and self-coaching to meet the module learning outcomes. In developing a ‘community of learning’ within a professional framework, you will be expected to attend teaching sessions, behave in a professional manner, and engage and contribute to the learning of yourself and others.

At the end of year 1 you will be given an academic supervisor to support your learning in relation to your project to facilitate your confident engagement with this module. She/he will support your academic development in up to 12 hours of face-to-face tutorial time for which you are expected to prepare and send your academic supervisor relevant materials well in advance. In addition to this, you are encouraged to work in peer group supervision to support each other’s work and progress. Tutor-facilitated workshops will give you the opportunity to refresh your qualitative or quantitate data analysis skills using your own data and that of your peers.

As with all modules, extensive support is also accessible online as part of the University’s commitment to technology enhanced learning. This employs the use of the e-learning portal, social networking and collaborative tools. And you are strongly encouraged to refer to the content of the research module in Year 1.

A central feature of the academic support available to you is the service provided by the University Library. This 24/7 service caters for all your learning needs, has extensive access to electronic texts and tutorials that will directly support the development of academic skills aimed at improving your critical thinking and communication skills.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

By the end of this module you will be able to:
Knowledge & Understanding:
• Systematically implement data collection and data analysis methods that result in valid or trustworthy findings that are meaningful to Occupational Therapy/Science.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
• Critically evaluate the relevance of published quantitative and qualitative studies, and/or systematic reviews to your own work.
• Write up your work following guidelines for publication of a peer reviewed journal relevant to your work.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
• Reflect critically on your own learning and on the contribution of your work to knowledge in the field.
• Value research participants as essential facilitators of and contributors to evidence.

Formative assessment:
You are encouraged to use peer learning to support and critique each other’s work throughout this module.

Summative assessment:
The summative assessment will consist of:
A 10,000-word write-up for publication of your MSc project intended for a specific peer reviewed journal in the field of health, rehabilitation and/or social care following the journal’s guidelines for authors (100%);

Research informed occupational therapy

None

In this module you will implement your own research project (supported by a project supervisor) based on the understanding of research and the research skills you have developed in the research module in year 1 and building on your previous experiences at Bachelor level. You can choose from two options in this module:

a) an empirical project in which you will collect data (or possibly work with existing data) relevant to occupational therapy.
b) a systematic review of evidence relevant to occupational therapy.

Research topics will be in line with Faculty and Professional research themes and priorities.

Summative assessment provides you with the opportunity to write-up your research as for intended publication (submission to a specific relevant publication/journal).