Research Protocol and Methodology (SDEM 500)

Course Description

This unit is a compulsory and prerequisite course, mandatory for students to understand the research protocol and methodology for the Masters Programme. It does not attract any credit score but highly required for students to be able to navigate and submit assignments in line with the standardized research protocol, methodology and ethics as well as guide  against plagiarism for quality research.

It should be noted that the evaluation system for the completion of the Master’s Programme in Sustainable development and Environmental Management is assignment based – whereby students are required to submit assignments, after exploring the resource materials provided by the instructor. The essays at the end of modules, project proposals for every of the course units, as well as the terminal dissertation for the Master’s degree would require rigorous academic attention, as well as specific guidelines for avoiding plagiarisms and formatting of the work with the referencing and citation styles required.  Most specifically, the APA style, recommended by the American Psychological Association (APA) is retained for use in all the assignments and essay students would summit in the course of their programme.

This course Unit is therefore designed for students to understand the rudiments of this research protocol and methodology, to be able to apply this to their work in the course of their study. Adherence to the academic methods, protocol and guidelines will constitute the criteria for grading and passing of assignments.  You are therefore required to study the following module in this compulsory course unit.

Modules:

1.     An Introduction to Academic writing

2.     How to do referencing and citations for academic essays

3.     Using APA style for references and citations

4.     Avoiding Plagiarism: Writing with Integrity