Welcome to the webinar: Assessing coursework Masters research Friday 21 November 2014 From 1pm- 2pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time, (UTC + 11 hours). Start 1.05 EDT Before that check your sound (see below), and we will practice using the mic. Feel free to chat by text too. A headset with a built-in microphone is recommended for making oral contributions. Without a headset, text chat is a good way to contribute. Test your sound system Go to the Meeting menu at the top left of your screen and clicking on Audio Setup Wizard. Proceed through the steps. You can do this at any time during the meeting. Troubleshooting If your connection is lost at any time during the webinar, wait a few seconds and refresh your page by pressing Ctrl+R. Previous Webinar on Research Mindedness in Masters In 2 weeks, Friday 21 Nov: Assessing coursework Masters research 1

Dr John Willison School of Education University of Adelaide Four-part series: Engaging Coursework Masters Students in Research Session 4: Assessing coursework Masters research 2

Introductions Webinar processes Introduce yourselves (orally or in text box) 3

How will you demonstrate these requirements? 4 AQF Level 9 Master (Coursework) Apply knowledge and skills: with high level personal autonomy and accountability… to plan and execute a substantial research based project, capstone experience and/or piece of scholarship

Find & Generate Facets of Research Evaluate & Reflect Organise & manage Analyse & Synthesise Communicate & Apply Embark & Clarify When in doubt, go to the centre… Based on and OPS designed by Mechanical Engineering Communications Tutors, University of Adelaide,

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Extent of Autonomy 7 ‘high level personal autonomy’

Assessing Research Requirements of AQF9 8 Sem 1Sem 2Sem Last Capstone RSD What is the function of assessment in the earlier semesters? Earlier semesters can boost students into a ‘research orbit’

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12  students using feedback from previous semesters  reinforcing research mindedness  integrating with technical research eg quantitative or qualitative research methods Progressive revisiting the same skills:

6 Unit= ½ Semester load  8-10,ooo word mini-thesis 12 Uni = full Semester load  15-20,000 word mini-thesis A lot of international students  support systems  $1000 for editing (AusAid)  Library collaboration vital 13 School of Education, UoA

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Your thoughts… 18

Masters RSD symposia Victoria/Tas 26 November, Monash Clayton NSW/ACT: 27 November, UNSW SA/NT: 3 Dec, UoAdelaide Q’land: 10 February, JCU Townsville 19

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What problems do you face in the assessment of c/w Masters research? Throughout the degree? In capstones? 21

School of Education, UoA Historically, students conceptualise own projects from scratch Ethics approval for primary data, needs to be whole semester before capstone Big issue is having useful secondary data that students can bring their own questions to Big potential for building research teams. That potential did not exist before 22

Whole Masters Degree Use Course-by-Course framing by the RSD in content-rich courses before Capstone courses Variety, nuances Coherent thread for students to generalise the learning experience as a whole 23

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Assessment Descriptions and Criteria Take an existing assessment or learning activity  Is it formative or summative assessment? Evaluate & Reflect  Determine and critique the degree of credibility of selected sources, information and data generated. Metacognitively reflect on the research processes used Organise & Manage  Organise information and data to reveal patterns and themes, and manage teams and research processes. Write 3 levels of criteria for one facet above. 29

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Find & Generate Facets of Research Evaluate & Reflect Organise & manage Analyse & Synthesise Communicate & Apply Embark & Clarify When in doubt, go to the centre… Based on and OPS designed by Mechanical Engineering Communications Tutors, University of Adelaide,

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