The research project will be completed by distance learning. Students will have regular, scheduled contact with their supervisor by phone and email. Module materials will be available through Blackboard. Students will need to make extensive use of online citation indexes and journals. Students will send fortnightly progress summaries to their supervisors and these will form the basis for discussion and goal setting. Exact method of student/supervisor contact will be negotiated to match the student?s needs and preferences, but is likely to involve a combination of email and telephone contact. In addition to this regular contact, students are asked to submit a number of documents to their supervisor during the course of the module (e.g., summaries of literature, ethics forms, descriptions of research design, draft results sections).

The Research Project is an opportunity for students to use understanding of psychological theory and research methods to design and conduct empirical research exploring issues associated with the teaching and learning of psychology. Findings will be written up as if for publication in a named peer-reviewed psychology or educational research journal of your choosing. Ethical approval will be required from the departmental ethics committee prior to commencement of data collection.
During the course of the module you will need to develop a detailed understanding of current psychological theory and research findings in one, narrowly focussed area. You will also need to develop and refine your research skills. These will include skills in literature searching, in research design and planning, in data collection, in data analysis, and in research reporting. How you go about developing your understanding of the psychology of your research topic, and how you develop your research skills, is very much up to you ? you will be responsible for planning and timetabling your own learning. Your leaning will be supported in three ways. First we impose a fairly minimal timetable setting out dates by which provisional research proposals and detailed research plans must be presented. Second, your research will be supervised by a member of staff with experience in learning and teaching research. Third, your research will be supported by the library and electronic infrastructure with which you will already be familiar.

Students must be able to teach AS/A level Psychology classes during the module.

Pre Requisites:
Students must have completed all modules from the PG Certificate and PG Diploma in Teaching Psychology, or AP(E)L equivalent study (Teaching Research Methods and Statistics SHS85430-M, Teaching the Core Curriculum in Psychology SHS85431-M, Developing and Assessing Coursework SHS85432-M, and Evaluating Perspectives and Approaches in Psychology SHS85433-M).

Summative assessment
Extended research report (100%, 6,000 to 12,000 words depending on nature of research and target publication; maps to all LOs).

Formative assessment
Students will submit a detailed ethics form for approval during semester 1, and will receive feedback on this. They will also be encouraged to submit a draft of their project report to their supervisor for feedback prior to submission. All supervisory meeting will incorporate some degree of informal formative assessment.

The bulk of students? reading will be in electronic journals and other online resources. Students may, however, find the following texts useful:
Harris, P. (2002). Designing and Reporting Experiments in Psychology. 2nd Edition. Buckingham, Open University Press.
Oppenheim, A.N. (1992). Questionnaire Design, Interviewing and Attitude Measurement. London, Continuum.
Silverman, D. (2004). Qualitative Research. 2nd Edition. London, Sage.
Howell, D. (2007). Statistical methods for psychology (6th ed.). Belmont CA: Thomson. Or earlier editions.

Access to Blackboard, email, and online library facilities via the internet.