Handbook

Term 1, Research Design, prepares you to undertake the logical steps of planning the how and why of conducting independent research. You will complete a rigorous ethics application, a literature review, and a final proposal detailing your research design. 

This course focuses on how to do research in planning. It seeks to integrate a range of relevant methodological issues into a foundation for major research investigations—starting with the basics of research design. The approach taken in PLAN4001 is pragmatic and student directed. The course considers fundamental epistemological questions about research paradigms, explores the realities of the research process, and covers practical topics such as doing a literature review, writing and presenting a scholarly piece of work, applying ethical research protocol as per induvial topics, and finally, a review of Harvard referencing. Students gain an understanding of the conceptual, methodological, and technical bases for the construction and timely delivery of research projects. The primary focus of PLAN4001 is to prepare students for the substantive research project in T3 of the BCP student candidature. Lectures, tutorials and assessments guide students towards a developed thesis proposal and plan of study for PLAN4003.

The basic teaching model in PLAN4001 is a series of lectures and small group meetings in class and one-to-one meetings with the Course Lecturers. Class times will generally involve a presentation by the Course Lecturer (2-3 hours) accompanied, where feasible, by a mix of informal discussion/workshop sessions in which students will be actively engaged—sometimes with the class divided into smaller groups appropriate to the timeframe. These components facilitate a degree of learning from your peers (you are all bringing a diverse range of professional experiences to your final year). One-to-one meetings with Course Lecturers assist with individual planning topic queries.