ARCH 7042 - Designing Research (M)

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2023

This course explores a variety of understandings and methods of undertaking and delivering `research'. Research is understood as the organised activity of focused observation, recording, analysis and documented communication of a determined point of investigation. Students review a number of traditional and formalised methods for undertaking and disseminating the findings of such inquiries which are typically text-based and sequential. In addition, and appropriate to the subject under investigation, students are also encouraged to explore variations where the design process itself is proposed as a parallel potential research methodology. Based on a series of examples presented, students are required to develop their own research frameworks and proposals which demonstrate an understanding of the principles, structure and purpose of research.

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Course Details

Course Code	ARCH 7042
Course	Designing Research (M)
Coordinating Unit	School of Architecture and Built Environment
Term	Semester 1
Level	Postgraduate Coursework
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 3 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	Y
Restrictions	Available to M.Arch (Cswk), M.Larch, M.PlanUD, M.Property and M. ConMgnt students only
Assessment	Essays, written assignments, illustrated verbal presentations, preparation of variety of other graphic, visual and physical model-based materials

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Dr Jo Russell-Clarke

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from .

Course Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate a practical understanding of the general principles, strategies and tactics of conventional academic research, and their potential application to design and related ‘non-traditional’ modes of research.
2. Outline the structure and develop the content and critical criteria of a proposal for a substantial research project relevant to a practical or theoretical issue in the built environment disciplines
3. Write cogently and succinctly using the conventional language of academic research
4. Identify and review relevant literature for a particular research topic methodically and strategically
5. Critique the work of peers objectively and constructively
6. Exercise a rigorous and ethical approach to research

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Attribute 1: Deep discipline knowledge and intellectual breadth Graduates have comprehensive knowledge and understanding of their subject area, the ability to engage with different traditions of thought, and the ability to apply their knowledge in practice including in multi-disciplinary or multi-professional contexts.	1,2
Attribute 2: Creative and critical thinking, and problem solving Graduates are effective problems-solvers, able to apply critical, creative and evidence-based thinking to conceive innovative responses to future challenges.	1,2,3,4,5,6
Attribute 3: Teamwork and communication skills Graduates convey ideas and information effectively to a range of audiences for a variety of purposes and contribute in a positive and collaborative manner to achieving common goals.	3
Attribute 8: Self-awareness and emotional intelligence Graduates are self-aware and reflective; they are flexible and resilient and have the capacity to accept and give constructive feedback; they act with integrity and take responsibility for their actions.	5

Learning Resources

Required Resources

Ther is no prescribed texts or resoiurces for this course

Recommended Resources

The key text for this course is:
Groat, LN & Wang, D (2013). Architectural Research Methods, 2nd ed., Wiley, Hoboken.
It is available online via the library with your Uni log-in:

See also the following links:

Writing Centre: /writingcentre/
In particular review general writing guides: /writingcentre/resources/writing-resources#general-writing-guides
and referencing guides: /writingcentre/resources/referencing-guides
Annotated bibliography guide: http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill28.htm

Books in the reserve collection in the Barr Smith Library:

Clare, J., & Hamilton, H. (Eds.). (2003). Writing research: Transforming data into text. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone [BSL 808.042 C5913w]

Evans, D., &Gruba. P. (2002). How to write a better thesis. 2nd Ed. Carlton South, Vic.: MelbourneUniversity Press. [808.02 E925h]

Locke, L. F., Spirduso, W. W., & Silverman, S. J. (2007). Proposals that work: A guide for planning dissertations and grant proposals. 5th Ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. [808.066 L814p.5]

Swales, J. M., &Feak, C. M. (2004). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills: A course for non-native speakers of English. 2nd Ed. Ann Arbor, MI : University of Michigan Press. [BSL 808.042 S971a].

Swales, J. M., &Feak, C. M. (2000). English in today’s research world: A writing guide. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. [BSL 808.042 S971e]

Online Learning

All course communication outside of scheduled teaching contact hours will be handled through the MyUni website for this course. Students should routinely check the course website and their university e-mail accounts for any general 'Announcements' issued through MyUni. Individual e-mail messages may also be issued to students by course instructors and coordinator from the MyUni ‘grade centre’.

All assignments shall be submitted online to the MyUni ‘grade centre’, through which all assessment and feedback will also be issued

Course Website:

University Email:
The school uses the University email system to get in touch with the students. So it is imperative that you check your email regularly and keep up to date with any new announcements.

Noticeboard / Handbook:
General information about the activities at the School is available online from the Student Noticeboard which can be accessed at https://unified.adelaide.edu.au/group/professons-student-architecture/current-student. Students can also access a copy of the Student Handbook at the following link:http://architecture.adelaide.edu.au/pdf/final-2012-Arch-handbook.pdf

Learning & Teaching Modes

This course has a very strong emphasis on student centred learning and formative assessment. Seminars will feature intensive small group discussions, developing and applying material covered in lectures to current assignments. Timely completion and submission of assignments will be crucial to the effectiveness of the seminar style tutorial sessions, and the formative assessment and skills development they will provide.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

The University expects full-time students (ie. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote at least 48 hours per week to their studies. Accordingly, students undertaking this 3 unit course are expected to devote 12 hours per weekto contact activities and self-guided studies.

Based on this framework here are some figures that might assist workload management:
Total workload hours: 12 Hrs per week x 13 weeks = 156 Hrs
Total contact hours: 3 Hrs per week x 12 weeks = 36 Hrs
Total self-guided study: 156 Hrs – 36 Hrs = 120 Hrs

These 120 hours should be used towards preparation of weekly tasks and for completion of the various assignments associated with the course, including development of various skills requiredto complete the same. Please organise your time wisely.

NOTE: The lecture content and assignment load of this course is concentrated in the first two thirds of the semester, to enable students to devote the final weeks to their parallel studio courses. To ensure the efficacy of small-group teaching contact, students will also meet intensively with designated tutors in smaller one-hour weekly seminar sessions, the schedule for which will be issued in wk1.

Learning Activities Summary

Schedule
Week	Lecture	workshop / Seminar
Week 1	lecture 1 (Intro)	workshop: What is research?
Week 2	lecture 2	workshop: elements of a research project
Week 3	lecture 3	Why?: Finding/framing a research problem
Week 4	lecture 4	Industry Forum: Reseach in Practice
Week 5	lecture 5	workshop: literature search strategies
Week 6	lecture 6	annotating a bibliography critically
	teaching break (2 weeks)
Week 7	lecture 7	guest. Quantitative approaches
Week 8	lecture 8	guest. Exploratory approaches
Week 9	Lecture 9	guest: Qualitative approaches
Week 10	Lecture 10	workshop: peer-reviewing research quality
week 11	Lecture 11 (final)	final seminar: individual consultations

Specific Course Requirements

Students are required to attend the School’s occasional ‘Speaker Series’ of public lectures on Tuesday evenings throughout the semester. Theoretical topics and design research discussed in these lectures will be assumed knowledge that students will be expected to engage in their seminar discussions and assignments.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment Task	Task Type	Weighting	Due	Learning Outcome
Participation	formative	10%		1,2,3,4,5,6
Assignment 1	summative	30%	week 6	1,3,5
Assignment 2	summative	20%	week 8	3,4
Assignment 3	summative	40%	week 12	1,2,3,4,5,6
Total		100%

Attending online classes and completing any work for tutorials and workshops - inlcuding uploading 'tasks' - is required to receive your participation and engagement mark (10%). Three Assignments will be completed, uploaded and marked online.

Assessment Detail

General Assessment Criteria (these apply to all assignments)
Evidence of understanding and conformity to ‘Research writing conventions’. This is based on assessment of conventional features of academic writing in English such as would be appropriate for readers in the scholarly disciplines of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, including:

sentences and paragraphs which conform to the University’s policies on plagiarism and the production of independent research writing
follow academic expectations in terms of spelling, punctuation and paragraphing, logical flow of ideas, scholarly integration of published literature
consistency in presentation of bibliographical citation and referencing.

Participation: 10%
Partcipation in formative workshop exercises is a non-graded but compulsory leanring activity in this course. Failure to engage in and submit workshop tasks or the peer-review report will result in a deduction of 5 points in each instance from the student's total of 10% of the overall marks reserved for participation.

Assignment 1: Literature Review 30%
Determine a research topic and provide: a project title + abstract/summary (~100 words) + annotated bibliography (minimum 7 works) + precedent/primary source analysis (3 x ~50 words or graphic equivalent) + preliminary literature review (500-600 words)

Assignment 2: Demonstration of Method 20%
Forumulate and undertake a piece of investigative research that demonstrates a method relevant in some way to your emerging proposal. The specific objective of this assignment is to experience a research activity – or tactic – and appreciate how undertaking research (and being able to better imagine undertaking research in detail) informs how you propose a research project from the beginning. You are to undertake and detail three steps: collect data, organise it and comment upon it. In this way you will have an introduction explaining the research activity/task, a body of organised data as information, and a conclusion that reflects on the data and tells us what we can learn from it.

Assignment 3: Research Project Statement 40%
‘Design’ a research project that could produce new knowledge to address the research question/gap identified through
the Literature Review (Assignment 1). You are to expand on your initial ideas and articulate the required details and justifications for a proposed research project in the format of a conventional research proposal using the template 'Research Statement Proforma' provided.
(final) title + abstract/summary (100 words) + Project Outline (2,000 words) + additional sections (budget, timeline, training, bibliography)

Submission

See 'Assessment Summary' (above) for submission dates and weightings.

All assignmnets are to be submitted online through the grade centre on the MyUni website for the course by 9:00am on the due date.

Hard copies of all submssiosns are also required to be brought to the student's regular seminar session on the due date for discussion with tutors and peers.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through .

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student鈥檚 disciplinary procedures.

The 成人大片 is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The 成人大片 therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator

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