Researching Social Care PGCert

Leading to a postgraduate certificate, this part-time online programme is designed for UK based and international postgraduate students who are committed to developing their research skills in a practice or policy social care context, as independent researchers. It will also be useful if you would like to strengthen your knowledge and understanding of research more generally. It is designed in such a way that all the content will be provided and delivered in an interactive teaching and learning style electronically online.

You’ll cover three modules taught over three semesters in one year. The course is designed to enable you to develop the necessary skills and knowledge to meet the standards set out in Vitae’s internationally recognised Research Development Framework. This framework has identified all the necessary identical skills, competencies and knowledge areas to enable somebody to become a competent independent researcher and ensures compliance with the requirements of UK social research governing bodies.

Learning Environment and Assessment

Teaching and learning environment will be developed through interactive methods online and self-directed study. Extensive use will be made of adobe and skype to provide teaching and learning sessions that are interactive, non-didactive and constructivist, through mutual shared learning and participatory dialogue. The emphasis of these sessions will be on students being prepared beforehand by undertaking the appropriate reading, to enable open and creative learning to take place within the learning zone through adobe. To enable these creative learning spaces to develop, the programme will be based on the principle of student led individual research and reading in preparation for the teaching and learning sessions and online self-directed learning.

Opportunities

The course to provide the key skills for students to either commence MPhil/PhD studies, be equipped to undertake research projects in their social care workplace and/or to work as an independent researcher.