Dissertation - MSc Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education

EDUC77710 Dissertation - MSc Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education 60 Full year Postgraduate Taught Level 7 Charlotte Bagnall Unit coordinator Education 1 FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Masters/Integrated Masters P4 ' European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 30.0 Building on the foundations provided in EDUC714411 Research Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education 1 and EDU715122 Research Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education 2, the dissertation unit provides you with an opportunity to plan, conduct and evaluate an original piece of research relating to mental health and wellbeing in educational contexts, supported by an allocated supervisor from the MSc MHWE programme team.  Building on the foundations provided in EDUC714411 Research Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education 1 and EDU715122 Research Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education 2, the dissertation unit provides you with an opportunity to plan, conduct and evaluate an original piece of research relating to mental health and wellbeing in educational contexts, supported by an allocated supervisor from the MSc MHWE programme team.  The unit aims to support students to plan, conduct and evaluate an original piece of research relating to mental health and wellbeing in educational contexts.    <ul><li>Explain the methodological considerations relevant to their research design and limitations in existing research, and justify the application of research paradigms, methods, and analytical techniques in their research project.</li><li>Outline the implications of a given set of research findings for policy and/or practice in the context of mental health and wellbeing in education.  </li></ul> <ul><li>Critically analyse and synthesize existing evidence pertaining to their focal research topic in service of a coherent rationale for their study.</li><li>Critically evaluate their own research findings, including via comparison to the published literature.</li></ul>  <ul><li>Design and execute an independent research project from initial problem statement to final written output, applying appropriate research methodologies with rigour.</li><li>Competently apply quantitative and/or qualitative analytic methods using appropriate software.  </li></ul> <ul><li>Demonstrate a high level of integrity and ethical awareness by anticipating and addressing potential ethical challenges related to their research.</li><li>Reflect critically on their research process and personal development, demonstrating an awareness of their own positionality and the challenges they encountered.   </li></ul> Whole-cohort sessions: Cracking the Code: A Practical Guide to Your MSc Dissertation (e.g. timeline and key deadlines, working with your supervisor, participant recruitment, dissertation structure and advice, frequently asked questions); The Ethical Compass: Guiding Your Dissertation with Integrity (e.g. applying for ethical approval, levels of risk, Disclosure and Barring Service checks, ethics and archiving data). Following supervisor allocation (informed by their assignment for EDUC714411 Research Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education 1), supervision sessions and independent, self-directed learning will focus on refinement of research design; navigating ethical approval; recruitment and data collection; identification of existing secondary data; analysis; and writing up and dissemination.    The two lecture-based sessions noted above will be delivered in the first few weeks of Semester 2, with active student participation through Q&A, Menti polls, and small group discussion.  Supporting E-learning content pertaining to the dissertation will be provided via the VLE including interactive material using a range of multimedia sources.  Supervision tutorials will allow students to engage with their supervisors to refine their research plans based on the preliminary ethical approval; recruitment and data collection/identification of relevant secondary data; analysis; and writing up and dissemination.The majority of students’ learning hours on the dissertation unit will be searching for and reading relevant literature, refining their research questions (and hypotheses, where applicable), refining their proposed methodology, preparing their submission for ethical approval, recruiting participants and collecting data (for primary projects), identifying and preparing relevant secondary data (for secondary projects), conducting literature searchers (for reviews), analysing data, and writing and presenting their findings.    4 Dissertation 100% Via VLE MSc Mental Health & Wellbeing MSc Mental Health & Wellbeing PGDT Dissertation Mandatory MSc Mental Health&WellbeingPT MSc Mental Health&Wellbeing PT PGDT Dissertation Mandatory N Biggam, J. (2025). Succeeding with your Master’s dissertation: a step-by-step handbook (6th Edition). Buckingham: OU Press.Gruia, M. (2024). The guide to communicating research. Sheffield: Research Retold.  Mertens, D. (2024). Research and evaluation in education and psychology: Integrating diversity with quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods (6th Edition). London: Sage.Nygaard, L. (2017). Writing your Master’s thesis: from A to Zen. London: Sage.    Lectures 5 Tutorials 8 587