Undergraduate - UnitEDF3808 - Research perspectives in adult and workplace education

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Education
Offered	Clayton First semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Professor Neil Selwyn

Synopsis

This unit builds on EDF2803 Learning and researching in work-related contexts, to introduce students to the notion of different perspectives or paradigms in adult and workplace learning research. Students are exposed to key concepts, traditions and methodologies in research, including positivism, interpretivism and alternative approaches to knowledge production. The unit extends students' appreciation of research as having different forms and purposes and being constructed through different theoretical and methodological frameworks.

Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit students should be able to:

demonstrate a stronger appreciation of research as a process of knowledge production and its relevance to practice in adult and workplace education
show a broad understanding of research perspectives and approaches
demonstrate an awareness of their own positions in relation to different research traditions and methodologies
have an appreciation of the research craft, including research design, methods, ethical principles and presentation.

Assessment

Research proposal (40%)
Research portfolio (60%)

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload equals 24 hours per semester comprising:

(a.) Contact hours for on-campus students:

18 contact hours per semester
6 hours of online activity per semester

(b.) Additional requirements

independent study to make up the minimum required hours per week

Chief examiner(s)

Professor Neil Selwyn

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Adult learning