Learning Partnerships, Unit Catalogue 2008/09 |
AS10101 Research skills |
| Credits: 5 |
| Level: Certificate |
| Academic Year at Cirencester College |
| Academic Year at City of Bath College |
| Academic Year at Weston College |
| Academic Year at Wiltshire College |
| Assessment: CW 40%, PR 60% |
| Requisites: |
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Aims: The unit will equip students with the skills to:
* Select relevant information * Capture, collate and store information * Refine and synthesize information. Learning Outcomes: On completion of the unit the students will be able to: * Produce a search strategy to meet the terms of reference of given projects * Use a range of qualitative and quantitative data collection methodologies required in case study analysis * Refine and synthesise information into presentational formats that meet the terms of reference of given projects. Skills: * The verification and selection of appropriate information. * The design of appropriate survey and interview strategies to gather data. * The management and storage of appropriate information for effective retrieval. * The analysis of information to formulate conclusions and recommendations to meet workplace needs. * The organisation of data into appropriate presentational formats. Content: An introduction to the concept of knowledge management. * Organisational contexts of knowledge * Networking and sharing knowledge * Rationales behind business information systems Research published sources to locate information - electronic and printed. * Use library classification schemes, catalogues, citation indices and abstracts. * Search internet for validated information using appropriate search criteria on organisations, companies, IT-related media, learning materials, electronic books, articles and papers * Evaluate and select appropriate information, through judgement of currency, accuracy and authorial perspective. * Record references, using approved citation methods for both print and electronic media, including online citation sites. Information within the organisation * Understand the sources and types of documentation that accompany the development of IT use within an organisation, such as IT and data protection policies and information strategies and to understand how they contribute towards the aims of the organisation. * Appreciate the need for appropriate and timely work-based documentation. * Understand the value of people and work groups as repositories of knowledge. * Understand differing perspectives of organisational aims and objectives and how these impinge upon data needs, use and outcomes. Understanding and using primary research techniques to complete data requirements for projects, through * Using interviews as a technique to elicit appropriate data and understand personal and social influences that may affect reliability of data. * Using sources such as databases and corporate material both within and outside the public domain. * Testing the reliability of data and compensating for bias. * Identifying and using quantitative or qualitative techniques to analyse surveys and interviews. * Managing the assembled information in terms of selection and ordering. * Synthesising the information in preparation for appropriate presentation in database, report, software application support documentation or oral presentation as required. |