CO4820 Critical Analysis - Research Paper Assessment

A survey has been conducted, gathering data from participants. You will be provided with the data from this survey, and will use it to write a report in the form of an academic research paper.

Learning outcomes assessed

1. Source and read academic literature and be able to critique its purpose and value

2. Construct a well referenced and critical review of literature

3. Design, carry out and report a simple experiment or survey

4. Critically evaluate different research methods for given situations

1. The Topic

The data provided is from a survey of Secondary School pupils in the UK, aged 11-16. The results of the survey can be found on Blackboard.

Your report needs to answer one of the following research questions:

    RQ1: Do teenagers prefer different software depending on whether they are male or female?

    RQ2: Do teenagers prefer different hardware depending on whether they are male or female?

    RQ3: How much time do teenagers spend using software – does this differ for at home and at school use?

    RQ4: What do school pupils think about using ICT for learning – what do they imagine will change in the future?

You will need to specify clearly in the first sentence of your introduction which of the Research Questions you are answering. Details are below for how each question should be addressed.

RQ1: Do teenagers prefer different software depending on whether they are male or female?

If you choose to answer RQ1, you should refer to paper 1 on Blackboard (Ekaputra et al., 2013) and also ensure you refer to questions 3, 6 and 12 from the survey. You must show evidence you have read the paper described here and you must also reference at least four other papers as part of your write up. You may refer to other questions from the survey.

The paper for this question on Blackboard is:

Ekaputra, G., Lim, C. and Eng, K.I., 2013. Minecraft: A game as an education and scientific learning tool. ISICO 2013, 2013.

RQ2:  Do teenagers prefer different hardware depending on whether they are male or female?

If you choose to answer RQ2, you should refer to paper 2 on Blackboard (Nair, 2007) and also ensure you refer to questions 3, 4 and 5 from the survey. You must show evidence you have read the paper described here and you must also reference at least four other papers as part of your write up. You may refer to other questions from the survey.

The paper for this question on Blackboard is:

Nair, H., 2007. Intertemporal price discrimination with forward-looking consumers: Application to the US market for console video-games. Quantitative Marketing and Economics, 5(3), pp.239-292

RQ3:  How much time do teenagers spend using software – does this differ for at home and at school use?

If you choose to answer question RQ3, you should refer to paper 3 on Blackboard (Marshall et al., 2006) and also ensure you refer to questions 14, 23 and 24 from the survey. You must show evidence you have read the paper described here and you must also reference at least four other papers as part of your write up. You may refer to other questions from the survey.

The paper for this question on Blackboard is:

Marshall, S.J., Gorely, T. and Biddle, S.J., 2006. A descriptive epidemiology of screen-based media use in youth: a review and critique. Journal of adolescence, 29(3), pp.333-349.

RQ4:  What do school pupils think about using ICT for learning – what do they imagine will change in the future?

If you choose to answer RQ4, you should refer to paper 4 on Blackboard (Adanir et al., 2020) and also ensure you refer to questions 14, 15 and 16 from the survey. You must show evidence you have read the paper described here and you must also reference at least four other papers as part of your write up. You may refer to other questions from the survey.

The paper for this question on Blackboard is:

Adanır, G.A., Borkoev, B., Saliyeva, K. and Muhametjanova, G., 2020. Kyrgyz learners’ and teachers’ experiences and perceptions related to ICT use in high school courses. Education and Information Technologies, 25(6), pp.4765-4780.

2. The Research paper

The research paper must be individual work. This cannot be completed as a group. Although students have the same data, and may have worked with others to discover suitable papers for a literature review, each student is expected to read papers individually and draw their own conclusions, and to perform their own analysis of the data provided.

The paper must follow the format specified in the ACM template that is posted on Blackboard. This specifies the sections that should be included (e.g. abstract, introduction, literature review, method, results, discussion and conclusion). The paper should be no more than 4 pages, not including the references.

The paper is expected to present an introduction to the topic and literature review of related academic work. You should aim to reference between 5 and 10 good quality sources. The research question and hypothesis should be identified clearly. The survey design and method should be explained. A table of key results must be included. The data gathered should be analysed to see if your research question can be answered.

Your paper must include the following:

·         Introduction making it clear which research question has been chosen, and discussing background literature on the topic, including the paper specified for your research question and other relevant sources

·         A discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of using surveys in this context to gather data

·         A critique of the survey design, including the wording and presentation of specific questions, and what the survey designers need to be aware of

·         A discussion of the ethical issues that are involved with research of this type, and practices that the researchers should have used in gathering this data

·         A method section giving example details of how this survey may have been conducted in an appropriate and ethical manner

·         Results and discussion, showing how the research question has been answered by this study

MARKING CRITERIA

Marks will be awarded based on the learning outcomes highlighted above.

To obtain 50%, you must have:

·         Used the provided template to document the study in an appropriate way, including reasonable background literature, an understandable structure and appropriate use of citations and references

·         Demonstrated an understanding of scientific method, of the impact of methods and of general research rigour

·         Shown an understanding of academic research papers on the topic provided

·         Explained key features of designing and conducting the survey

·         Critiqued the use of a survey method in this context

·         Explained important ethical issues involved with research of this type

·         Reported and analysed key results, including simple descriptive statistics

If this is reassessment work, then your mark is capped at 50% for this assignment.

If this is your first attempt at this assignment due to mitigating circumstances, you can use the guide below to see how to achieve a higher mark.

To obtain 60%, in addition to the above, you must have:

·         Clearly critiqued the findings from your work by appropriate referencing to other studies

·         Presented your findings with good use of descriptive statistics and charts as appropriate

To obtain 70%, in addition to the above, you must have:

·         Submitted work that is of publishable quality in terms of structure and clarity.

·         Submitted work that can clearly be understood and that could, by virtue of how it is reported, be replicated

·         Applied appropriate statistical tests to the work and reported the findings in an appropriate way

To obtain 80%, in addition to the above, you must have:

·         Written work that, as a complete article, is worthy of publication in a peer reviewed academic venue

UNFAIR MEANS

The research paper needs to be individual work. Sharing your writing with other students or allowing them to copy your work is a breach of academic standards and will be treated as unfair means (collusion). The writing in your paper is expected to be your own, and not copied from any sources or prepared by anyone else. Where you are using ideas from other sources such as academic literature, this needs to be clearly cited. Using someone else’s words or ideas without appropriate citation is also unfair means (plagiarism).

Any suspected use of unfair means will be reported appropriately, and can lead to students being called for a hearing. Where the panel agrees that a case of unfair means has taken place, a penalty will be applied and the matter will be noted on the student’s record. Students are expected to have read and understood the information given on unfair means, and taken appropriate measures to ensure that their work complies with this. Please contact the student coaches if you need any more information on this.

LATE WORK

Late submissions and extensions are not possible on reassessment work. If serious events prevent you from submitting on time, you would need to apply for mitigating circumstances using this link:

https://msuclanac.sharepoint.com/sites/StudentHub/SitePages/Mitigating-circumstances.aspx

Mitigating circumstances can only be approved by the central university admin team or by the Year Tutor, not by module tutors. Please do not email your module tutor asking for an extension, as they will be unable to grant this.

The preparation for this assignment was provided in the lecture materials and seminar activities in weeks 1-6 of semester 1.

Assessment Release Date:  01/04/2022

Assessment Deadline Date and Time: 20/05/2022 5pm.

Please note that this is the final time you can submit – not the time to submit!

Do not contact module tutors to request an extension, such requests will always be refused.    

If you feel you have mitigating circumstances and are unable to submit on time you need to follow the correct university process detailed at https://www.uclan.ac.uk/students/support/extensions.php                                      

Your feedback and mark for this assessment will aim to be provided within 15 working days after submission.

Submit the individual research paper to the Turnitin link on Blackboard.

·           Assignment support has been provided in the CO4820 seminar classes during timetabled hours.

·           The module space on Teams remains active after the end of teaching to support students with questions about reassessment work, and drop-in support sessions may be organised by the module tutor.

·           For support with using library resources, please contact [email protected]. You will find links to lots of useful resources in the My Library tab on Blackboard.

·           If you have not yet made the university aware of any disability, specific learning difficulty, long-term health or mental health condition, please complete a Disclosure Form. The Inclusive Support team will then contact to discuss reasonable adjustments and support relating to any disability. For a copy of the form and more information, visit the Inclusive Support site.

·           To access mental health and wellbeing support, you can email [email protected], call 01772 893020 or visit our UCLan Wellbeing Service pages for more information.

·           If you have any other query or require further support you can contact Student Support in the Student Centre.  Speak with us for advice on accessing all the University services as well as the Library services. Whatever your query, our expert staff will be able to help and support you. For more information, how to contact us and our opening hours visit https://msuclanac.sharepoint.com/sites/StudentHub/SitePages/Contact-Us.aspx

·         If you have any valid mitigating circumstances that mean you cannot meet an assessment submission deadline and you wish to request an extension, you will need to apply online prior to the deadline.