Developing Your Research Project (FutureLearn)

The course is intended for anyone who is currently undertaking or planning to undertake a piece of academic research, be that the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), International Baccalaureate Extended Essay, coursework, undergraduate or postgraduate dissertation, or a piece of independent scholarship.

Developed and delivered by research-active academics, the course will support you with every step of the research process, from developing a hypothesis and finding sources to writing up and presenting one’s findings.

The practical, hands-on lessons will give you the opportunity to share your ideas with fellow researchers from all over the world, to receive peer feedback on your research proposals and enable you to review and comment on the work of other researchers, building a supportive community of like-minded curious learners.

What topics will you cover?

- Academic research: principles and definition

- Drafting and developing research proposals

- Gathering information from literature and from findings

- Research methods: choosing an appropriate methodology

- Academic reading and note taking

- Referencing, plagiarism, and academic integrity

- Academic writing: organising sources, structuring essays

- Academic writing: summarising a research project into an abstract

- Academic presentations: preparation and delivery

Learning on this course

You can take this self-guided course and learn at your own pace. On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

- Develop a research hypothesis

- Formulate research questions

- Summarise a research proposal

- Assess the validity of a research proposal

- Justify the choice of a specific research methodology

- Explore academic literature about a specific research subject

- Prepare a presentation to illustrate the key components of your specific research project

Who is the course for?

There are no specific course requirements, other than a curious disposition and desire to undertake some academic research.