SW5004 - Research for Practice

You will learn through lectures, seminars, peer group and collaborative learning, independent and self-directed study and library-based work.
We will identify a range of tasks for you to complete week to week. Sometimes these are learning activities to bring with you for the next seminar, sometimes learning to undertake for the next session. These are focussed tasks aimed to help you to work towards the summative task for this module.

You will be supported in a variety of ways during the lectures and seminars. These will include feedback from tutors and peer groups during the lectures and seminars. In addition, the module leader and seminar tutors will respond to questions, preferably via the module’s discussion board on the Blackboard Ultra e-Learning (eLP) site so that the whole group can benefit.

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)

At the end of the module you will be able to:

Knowledge & Understanding:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of key issues in research and knowledge generation, including the ethical obligations of the researcher.
2. Describe and explore the current state of knowledge about a relevant topic.

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:

3. Prepare to make decisions through the identification and gathering of information from more than one source and, with support, question the reliability and validity of this information.
4.Consider how evidence may be used to inform judgement and decisions in practice situations.

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):

5. Recognise the importance of applying imagination, creativity, and curiosity to practice.

Formative assessment
Your formative assessment is a verbal group presentation of a set of research articles relevant to an aspect of social work of the group’s choice. As a group you will need to present how you searched for the research, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each piece of research, and identify what the research contributes to your understanding of social work practice. You will receive verbal feedback from your peers and your tutor which will help your preparations for your summative assessment.
(MLO 2, 3, 4, 5).
Summative assessment
This is a 2,000-word critical research review which is submitted through Turnitin. You will need to identify several research articles relevant to an aspect of social work of your choice, using advanced search techniques. You will need to evaluate the quality of the identified pieces of research and discuss what the research contributes to your understanding of this aspect of social work practice. The assignment constitutes 100% of the module mark. You will be provided with written feedback through Turnitin.
(MLO 1, 2, 3, 4, 5).

SW4000, SW4001, SW4002, SW4003, SW4004, SW4005

SW5000, SW5001, SW5002, SW5003.

This module builds on learning from the Year 1 module “ Academic Information Skills and Critical Reflection” (SW4005) towards a deeper understanding of the contribution research knowledge can make to social work practice through an understanding of the research process, and alongside this, further developing your ability to appraise the quality of different forms of evidence. The curriculum will therefore focus on developing your skills in finding and reading research, in evaluating the quality and relevance of research findings, and in thinking about how you might beneficially draw on research findings in practice. By the end of the module, you will be a more confident reader and user of research knowledge and will be able to critically reflect on the implications of different ways of using research evidence in social work practice.