| CODE | BLH4005 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Research Methods for Cultural Heritage | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 04 - Years 4, 5 in Modular UG or PG Cert Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Conservation and Built Heritage | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit is designed to better prepare students to deliver the high quality of research methods and presentation that will be expected of them in the Masters programme. The study-unit will address fundamental methodological skills and practices that will serve students throughout their academic and professional life. These include understanding of what constitutes correct citation and what constitutes plagiarism; preparing a sound research proposal; making full use of online academic resources; advanced use of word-processing and bibliographic software, as well as presentation skills. The study-unit will also introduce students to the principles and practice of archival research, as well as to fundamental ideas and principles in scientific and art-historical investigation. This study-unit will build on any research skills the students may have developed throughout their undergraduate studies. Study-unit Aims - To consolidate the students' skills in research methodology (archival as well as scientific); - To provide students with the opportunity to develop their academic writing and presentation skills; - To provide students with a sound foundation in scientific and art-historical investigation. Learning Outcomes 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Clearly distinguish between the various forms of correct citation on one hand, and plagiarism on the other; - Prepare and organise a research proposal with a clearly defined research question, theoretical framework, methodology, and data-set; - Identify which archival sources may be useful to help address a specific issues and questions; - Describe a number of fundamental concepts in scientific and humanistic research. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Conduct efficient searches through library OPAC systems and online journals; - Correctly use advanced functions of word-processing software to manage longer documents, such as 'styles', 'outline numbering', 'master document' and 'create table of contents'; - Correctly reference written work and compile consistent and thorough bibliographies; - Make proper use of bibliographic software to insert citations and compile a bibliography; - Prepare and deliver a presentation to a professional audience as well as to the general public. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings Main Texts - Bowden J. 2004. Writing a Report: a step-by-step guide to effective report writing. 7th edition. Oxford: How To Books Ltd. - Fairbairn G. J. & Winch C. 1996. Reading, Writing and Reasoning: A Guide for Students. 2nd edition. Buckingham, Open University Press. - Sorensen, M.L.S. & Carman, J. 2009. Heritage Studies: Methods & Approaches. Taylor & Francis. Useful information on the following topics is available on UoM website: - plagiarism and how to avoid it: https://www.um.edu.mt/vle/pds/students/resources. - bibliographic management software: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/researchtools/bms. Supplementary Readings The following articles are available online through UoM Library portal: - Cassar, M. & Taylor, J. 2004. A Cross-disciplinary Approach to the use of Archives as Evidence of Past Indoor Environments in Historic Buildings. Journal of the Society of Archivists, 25 (2) 157-172. - Marshall, R. (2007). How do we know that we know what we know? Physics Education 42(3) 238-244. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Blended Learning | ||||||||||||
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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