Latest Module Specifications
Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026
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Description This module aims to prepare students to engage with confidence in ethical, evidence-based inquiry; to cultivate the sophisticated research knowledge, skills, and critical attitudes essential for the modern educator. The module is informed by the Teaching Council’s Céim framework (2020), which mandates that professional practice be grounded in both “educational research” and a commitment to “creativity and innovation.” Accordingly, developing a "research perspective" is understood as the cultivation of a knowledgeable stance from which one can critically evaluate existing knowledge and creatively apply it to professional practice. The module is structured as a year-long journey that guides students from critical analysis to creative application, preparing them to engage with confidence in ethical research on topics of value to the educational community. Initially, students will develop the research knowledge, skills, and competencies required to deconstruct scholarly texts, critically appraise them for methodological rigour and potential bias, and interrogate the ethical dimensions of educational inquiry. This critical foundation is the necessary prerequisite for meaningful pedagogical innovation. Subsequently, these analytical skills are applied to the creative construction of a personal, research-informed model of practice, embodying the role of the 'teacher as researcher'. This process challenges students to bridge academic theory and professional application by designing tangible, evidence-based responses to pedagogical opportunities. Through a final reflective analysis of professional placement, students will evaluate their model in an authentic context, solidifying the link between evidence-based inquiry, reflective practice, and their commitment to ongoing professional development. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Learning Outcomes 1. Conduct a search of scholarly sources to identify relevant academic literature, and critically evaluate its theoretical underpinnings, methodological rigour, validity, and reliability, with specific reference to its applicability in a defined pedagogical context. 2. Critically synthesise a body of academic literature to identify key themes, theoretical debates, and gaps in existing research, leading to the identification and articulation of a specific opportunity for a research-informed pedagogical innovation. 3. Design a practical, innovative, and viable teaching resource that responds directly to the identified opportunity, ensuring its structure, content, and proposed activities are explicitly informed by the principles and findings derived from the critical literature review. 4. Construct a coherent, critically-informed academic rationale that justifies the design of the pedagogical resource, articulating its intended impact on the learning experience, and substantiating all claims with direct reference to the synthesised body of research. 5. Communicate the complete research-to-practice cycle, from the initial literature review to the final resource design and rationale, demonstrating a critical and reflective engagement with the process of translating educational theory into effective pedagogical practice. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml |
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Indicative Content and Learning Activities
The Teacher as Researcher The emerging role of teacher and school based research in the context of changing curricula, new approaches to inspection and teaching council requirements. • Reflection and reflective engagement in the lifecycle of a school year. Integrating research into the life of the Student Teacher • The integration of research into the role of the teacher Engaging with research – what others say, how to read it and how to place a value on it. Exploring research literature • Locating educational research • Working with online databases • Using libraries • Reading and critically analysing educational research • Providing a critical overview of research studies Preparing to carry out research –paradigms, methods and designs • Introduction to the research paradigm • Examining methodological issues in educational research. • Bringing the professional self to the design of research Doing research – ethics • What is ethical research in a school context? • Self study and ethics Developing a research question and research proposal Learn how to formulate research questions and develop the research proposal in a collaborative mode with peers and colleagues, and through consideration of experiences of school placement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Indicative Reading List Books:
Articles: None | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Other Resources None | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||