Development Methods and Evaluation of OperationsLaajuus (5 cr)

Objective

The students
- recognise the importance of research for professional development
- are able to apply research-based methods for development work
- identify the stages of a research/development process
- know how to select the appropriate research/development approach and methods (data collection and analysis) for their own thesis project, apply them and justify their selections
- can write research report
- know the principles of qualitative and quantitative research and can use their methods
- can do development and action research
- can acquire and analyse research information in their own field
- have the ability to critically evaluate the reliability of information and different sources and use them in research/development work
- understand the meaning of research ethics of applied research
- recognize learning needs and can set themselves realistic long-term and short-term learning goals.

Content

Research perspective in development work.
The stages of the research process and reporting.
Definition of the research theme.
The principles and methods of qualitative and quantitative research.
The principles and methods of development and action research.
Acquiring information and evaluating reliability
Methods of collecting and analyzing research material
Research ethics and the reliability of applied research.
The objectives of the studies. The learning process and different learning styles. Personal study plan. Assessment of one’s own learning and further plans. The assessment of the contents and the implementation of the education.

Qualifications

Mastery of comprehensive basic knowledge in the field.

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1)

The student identifies the research methods best suiting his/her work and can use them and report passed.

The materials demonstrate that the student:
-identifies his/her learning needs and can set realistic learning objectives
- can form a realistic idea of his/her learning, assessing the development of knowledge and skills in relation to set personal objectives and the objectives of the work community
- based on the evaluations, can reflect on the needs to develop competence in the future.