HR231-5-SU-CO:
Choosing Your Past: How to Design and Manage a Research Project
PLEASE NOTE: This module is inactive. Visit the Module Directory to view modules and variants offered during the current academic year.
2023/24
Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies (School of)
Colchester Campus
Summer
Undergraduate: Level 5
Inactive
Monday 22 April 2024
Friday 28 June 2024
15
31 March 2021
Requisites for this module
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HR231 is an essential preparation module for the final-year History Research Project module (HR831). On HR231 we will equip you with the skills to design and manage a research project, which you will then go on to complete and submit in your final year.
We will cover the following key aspects of historical research:
How to identify an area of research interest and develop a research question about it;
How to work out a method of answering your research question;
How to find and analyse the primary sources you will need for your research;
How to use secondary readings to help you to develop and refine your ideas.
This module:
1. teaches you how to design your own research project, with particular focus on preparation for the History Research Project (HR831).
2. deepens your understanding of how historians research, write and create the interpretations of the past that you read (in the form of books, articles, etc) on other modules.
3. gives you transferable skills in project design and planning which you can list on your CV and transfer to further study or the world of work.
By the end of the module, you will have:
1. Gained a better understanding of how historians develop research projects and of the shaping processes that lie behind the historical texts you read for other modules (books, articles, blogs etc).
2. Developed your own skills of project design and planning, as demonstrated by your own research proposal.
3. Developed problem-solving, teamwork and self-reflection skills in completing the module coursework and seminar activities (eg: peer review).
For introductory reading, see:
Loughran, Tracey (ed.), A Practical Guide to Studying History. Skills and Approaches (Bloomsbury, 2017).
Thomas, Gary, Doing Research (Palgrave Pocket Study Skills, 2nd edition, 2017).
HR231 is taught intensively (four contact hours per week) in the first five weeks of the Summer Term. There will be a programme of lectures, seminars, interactive workshops and mini-conferences in which you are given the opportunity to practise and develop research skills and to work on your Portfolio tasks. You will give your assessed presentation to an audience of your peers at a conference-style event towards the end of the module. In addition to your seminar teacher, you will also have the opportunity to discuss your ideas with potential Project supervisors over the course of the module.
This module does not appear to have a published bibliography for this year.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
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Coursework weighting |
Additional coursework information
Anticipated coursework assessment for 2021/22:
A 2000-word Literature Review (40%); an Assessed Presentation (20%); and a 2000-word Research Project proposal (40%).
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Prof Tracey Loughran, email: t.loughran@essex.ac.uk.
Belinda Waterman, Department of History, 01206 872313
No
No
No
Dr Miriam Dobson
University of Sheffield
Reader
Available via Moodle
Of 61 hours, 51 (83.6%) hours available to students:
5 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
5 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
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