Pearson and AccessEd - Getting Started

Summary

In this engaging webinar, Pearson UK & International Schools unveil the essentials of embarking on research projects. Titled 'Getting Started,' the session emphasizes the multifaceted benefits of undertaking such projects, explaining how they develop crucial academic and professional skills. Covering a comprehensive range of topics from defining what research projects entail, picking the ideal research question, to the traits of a great researcher, this video sets you on the path to success in conducting meaningful research both during and post your school years.

Highlights

• Research projects teach you skills that are invaluable for future education and career paths. 🚀
• The Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) adds significant value to university applications. 🏆
• It's essential to choose a focused and engaging research question to lead your study. 🎯
• Execute a good blend of outside sources and personal analysis in your research projects. 📚
• Stay organized, and be ready for changes as your research progresses. 🗺️
• Effective communication of findings is crucial in any research project. 🎤

Key Takeaways

• Research projects are a golden opportunity to build skills for school, university, and professional life. 🎓
• Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) is highly valued by universities and can enhance UCAS applications. 📚
• Choosing the right research question is crucial for guiding your project effectively. 🔍
• Research projects require a mix of existing research and personal insights to draw compelling conclusions. 🧠
• Practice, planning, and persistence are the keys to a successful research project. 🗝️
• Presentation skills are as vital as research skills in showcasing your work effectively. 📊

Overview

Research projects are a vital educational experience that transcends beyond school walls, offering skills crucial for university and professional life. This webinar by Pearson UK & International Schools explains that research projects let students delve into subjects of interest, thus building independent study and analysis skills. The session highlights how these projects are not only a part of academic growth but also significant shapers of one's career paths.

Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) is notably beneficial as it's recognized by universities and carries UCAS points, making it a valuable addition to university applications. The session emphasizes understanding the structure, benefits, and strategic approach to undertaking EPQs, which often involve dissertations or structured research projects that showcase a student's research and analytical skills.

Critical to any research project is the research question—it serves as the compass guiding the entire journey. This webinar illustrates how crafting a precise and engaging question can set the project's direction. It also stresses the importance of summarizing findings accurately by combining external sources with personal insights, ensuring the research is both thorough and original. Overall, the session motivates students to practice discipline, refine their research skills, and present their findings effectively.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction The 'Introduction' chapter of the webinar discusses the different forms and benefits of research projects. These projects are not only academic exercises but also skills that can be applied at university and in future job roles. The chapter aims to present the foundational importance of engaging in research projects and indicates that the upcoming content will cover specific benefits of undertaking such projects while in school. This introduction is aimed at encouraging students to consider research projects as valuable experiences.
• 01:00 - 02:00: Understanding Research Projects This chapter focuses on the motivations and benefits of engaging in academic and professional research projects. It highlights the importance of research projects for building skills and knowledge in areas that may not be covered in the standard school curriculum. These projects are not only valuable for personal growth but also enhance CVs and applications for universities, apprenticeships, or jobs. The chapter also introduces the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) as a formal credential for such research endeavors.
• 02:00 - 03:00: What is a Research Project? The lesson introduces the concept of a research project, highlighting its meaning, benefits, and the steps necessary to begin one. It covers fundamental questions such as what a research project is, the advantages of undertaking such a project, how to choose an appropriate research question, and examples of good research questions.
• 03:00 - 05:00: Benefits of Research Projects This chapter dives into the importance of research projects, emphasizing the skills required to be a great researcher, including question inspiration and idea testing. It also highlights tips on utilizing information sources effectively, clarifying the terms 'research project' and 'research-based project'. The essence of research is defined as collecting and studying information and evidence to develop ideas, a practice familiar to students from their school experiences.
• 05:00 - 08:00: Types of Research Projects Research involves tackling complex questions without clear answers.
• 08:00 - 15:00: Choosing a Research Topic This chapter focuses on the initial stages of a research endeavor, specifically the process of choosing a research topic. It emphasizes the importance of curiosity as the catalyst for research, highlighting how individual inquisitiveness can lead to unique and innovative questions that drive the research process. Moreover, it outlines that research fundamentally involves a systematic approach to answering questions and expanding knowledge. The chapter also characterizes research projects as personal journeys of learning and discovery, suggesting that they are primarily about the researcher's own growth and understanding.
• 15:00 - 18:00: Formulating a Research Question The chapter focuses on the process of formulating a research question, emphasizing the importance of collecting and analyzing information from diverse sources to become highly informed about a chosen topic. Research-based projects differ from traditional classroom learning by focusing on learning through engaging directly with a specific topic. The goal is to communicate knowledge effectively to a specific audience.
• 18:00 - 21:00: Examples of Good Research Questions The chapter emphasizes the importance of choosing good research questions, and how they gauge not just the end result but also the research process. It highlights that reading and learning through projects is exciting because it allows individuals to pursue their own interests and build independent skills.
• 21:00 - 25:00: Resources for Inspiration and Testing Ideas This chapter discusses the development of study and analysis skills, emphasizing the importance of working independently and self-guiding one's learning. It highlights the value of building analysis skills, enabling detailed exploration of elements or structures. Furthermore, it considers this practice as preparation for further education, including university or apprenticeships, and likens it to part of the university process such as essay selection.
• 25:00 - 30:00: Skills for Successful Research Projects The chapter ‘Skills for Successful Research Projects’ discusses the importance of undertaking a final dissertation project. It emphasizes the value of developing personal interest in projects outside of the curriculum to enhance learning and application skills. The process improves self-expression and confidence, which are crucial for both academic success and future workplace readiness.
• 30:00 - 33:00: Final Tips and Next Steps The chapter titled 'Final Tips and Next Steps' emphasizes the multifaceted skills that learning can develop, including time management, research, presentation, writing, and communication. Additionally, it highlights the academic and professional benefits of pursuing an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) in sixth form, which is valued by universities and contributes towards UCAS points, potentially enhancing future opportunities.

Pearson and AccessEd - Getting Started Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 welcome to this webinar on the what why and how of research projects getting started so you're considering doing a research project research projects come in many forms you'll do them at school but you'll also have the chance to use these skills at university or in a job later in life so they really are a great experience and project to undertake we'll cover more on the exact benefits of doing a research project while your school but this video is great for those
• 00:30 - 01:00 who want to build their academic and professional research skills those of you studying a special topic that interests you which is outside of the school curriculum those embarking on what can be a really impressive project for your CV and future University apprenticeship or job applications and anyone interested in undertaking a formal project qualification like the extended project qualification which is often referred to as an e PQ or any
• 01:00 - 01:30 other type of project-based learning overall this lesson is going to help you you get to grips with what we mean by a research project the benefits and what you'll need to do and how to get started as part of this video we'll be covering the following things what is a research project what are the benefits of doing a research project how to pick a research question examples of a good research
• 01:30 - 02:00 question inspiration and testing your ideas the skills of a great researcher and tips information sources and what to do next one thing to note is that we'll be using both research project and research-based project as terms during this video you've heard about it and used research for a while at school but what is it really well it's taking the time to collect and study information and evidence in order to develop ideas
• 02:00 - 02:30 to answer hard questions research is all about trying to answer questions that don't seem to have a very obvious answer this could be to research to find Forex a new method for making biodegradable plastic or it could be trying to understand for example what democratic government model has been most successful over time different questions require different approaches many of our greatest achievements in history have
• 02:30 - 03:00 come from a spark of curiosity and curious people setting out to find an answer to such questions and this spark of curiosity is actually a chance for you to show off your unique thinking lastly what is research to find us well it's something that people undertake in order to find things out in a systematic way thereby increasing their knowledge what are research projects exactly a research project is all about you and your own learning a research project is about
• 03:00 - 03:30 collecting and analyzing relevant information and materials from a variety of different sources this is what the intention of becoming highly informed about an engaging topic and with the purpose of communicating knowledge to a specific audience research based projects are different the core classroom learning research projects involve learning via project related to a specific topic where you learn by tilling and research projects are often
• 03:30 - 04:00 assessed or evaluators be this by an examiner a teacher or a supervisor overseeing your project and they are assessed by how you go about them as much as the end result of the project itself reading and learning by projects is really exciting for various reasons one it lets you study your own interests so you can study what matters to you the most and what you find most interesting who it allows you to build independent
• 04:00 - 04:30 study and analysis skills this helps you develop your ability to work alone and self guide your learning which is an invaluable skill for onward learning you also build analysis skills in other words you learn how to do a detailed exploration of the elements or structure of something three it gives you the chance to practice for further education like university or apprenticeships actually milks part of the university process like choosing an essay or a
• 04:30 - 05:00 final dissertation project oh it sounds are you are strengthen yourself in the project you are interested in outside of the curriculum and what you learn in class which is great for applications 5 it gives you the chance increased confidence in how you express yourself and your own ideas 6 it helps you become ready for the future world of work you'll be learning valuable skills that you might use in the workplace 7 project
• 05:00 - 05:30 start learning develops other useful skills such as time management skills research skills presentation skills earthly writing skills and presenting and communicating effectively a Louis Lee it improves your prospects University's value the EPQ which is worth you cast points if you choose to do any PQ in sixth form an extended
• 05:30 - 06:00 project qualification you can use it in your you cast application it's worth 28 you cast points some universities will even offer you lower grade offers if you get a go to extend a project qualification grade so what form could your project take in other words what would a project look like practically types of project outcomes include anticipation this is a university style extended research project report an
• 06:00 - 06:30 investigational field study this involves a collection of primary data and may in over questionnaire observation or scientific experiment to test the hypothesis in other words you test a proposed explanation of something a performance this takes the form of a presentation to a specific audience such as a play a performance could be something like a musical show or a fashion show the important thing here really is that research is still at the
• 06:30 - 07:00 core of your performance project lastly an artifact an artifact is the type of project that can lead to the creation of a physical out come such as a book a model or artwork by completing a research based project your teachers are expecting you to demonstrate an ability to thoughtfully choose an area to study to independently research your topic and find reliable sources and they're expecting you to analyze your findings to come to conclusions that support the points you
• 07:00 - 07:30 make at this point it's worth saying that many research projects will be a written University style dissertation now this video focuses mainly on research projects as dissertations for extra guidance on performance or artifact or investigation projects it's worth checking out additional research project guidance on these or speaking to an supervisor what is a research project made up of research projects have three main overarching parts this is a process
• 07:30 - 08:00 and involves the following steps one it's identifying a question you want to answer to then it's using existing information and your own research to answer that question lastly it's summarizing your findings that show you have considered the facts and have arrived at a conclusion to your search overall a research project is about combining the use of outside sources with your own personal conclusion about a topic it shouldn't be a regurgitation
• 08:00 - 08:30 of facts and ideas from other sources it should be the careful mix of sources with ideas you have developed as a result of your reading and thinking so now you know what a research project involves it's up to you to decide what your project topic will be deciding what to research can be one of the hardest but most rewarding parts of your project your topic could be predefined or assigned to you by a teacher supervisor or a project advisor however if you're
• 08:30 - 09:00 doing something like an EPQ you might be picking your own research topic this topic should be an extension of or it should sit outside of the curriculum and be something that you aren't already studying so what are top tips for choosing your research project topic look at other writing look at other library's resources him through titles of other research and read their introductions this might give you inspiration or you might have
• 09:00 - 09:30 suggestions for further research to others what topics are other students considering as this spark and interest for you discuss your ideas with others as questions might help refine your focus think about your own interests what publics have you found most interesting and is there an element that could be developed into a research project what's missing from your curricula is there a related topic that
• 09:30 - 10:00 hasn't been covered in your school subjects be critical if there's something in your school subjects so far that you have been skeptical about or that you've questions or which you think needs further study finally materials that you can understand these are the foundations of your project in this case it's the roots of this tree are there materials out there that you can easily understand if all resources that you find seem particularly difficult or complicated to
• 10:00 - 10:30 understand then you might want to consider a different topic overall read around your topic and ask why reading about topics and questioning them could give inspiration for what to pick your research project title your research question once you have chosen a topic for your research you will need to pick a title and as a general rule research projects work well when there is a clear direction one way of ensuring this is by having your project title as a question
• 10:30 - 11:00 all through responding to a specific challenge if you're doing a practical project like a performance or a physical production of something like a book your title will often be made up of your research question or this challenge so what is a research question at its most basic a research question is related to a topic to be answered and the whole purpose of your research will be to provide an answer to this set question people tend to think differently about research questions
• 11:00 - 11:30 some people might think that it's not too difficult coming up with one and that this be fairly easy to think of but for others research questions can be one of the hardest parts and you may feel like you don't know enough about a topic to know what sort of questions to ask or challenge to pose yourself or even in the scope of the topic or recent developments related to your topic overall a good question is one of the most important steps and this is what your project hinges on without a good
• 11:30 - 12:00 research question a project won't have direction so research could end up being a bit misguided so what are our tips for picking your research question we'll go through some examples of what a good research question looks like but first a few quick tips for picking one one it shouldn't be too broad if you could imagine writing a whole book on it it's probably not narrow enough if you are writing a few thousand words for a written dissertation this may sound like a lot but after you summarize your
• 12:00 - 12:30 evidence and findings it's actually not as much space as you think so you need to pick a focused question that isn't trying to answer too much to pick a topic that strongly interests you you will be dedicating a fair amount of time to this so you should enjoy it this is an exciting chance to focus on something you enjoy 3 it's creative you can use your imagination whether it's written performance or artifact this is the chance to think outside of the box
• 12:30 - 13:00 full it's specific within your chosen topic as opposed to being general 5 the best questions are often open questions this means there is often no one right answer this is what makes them really interesting to explore 6 researchable there should already be something written about it all materials that already exist to be able to conduct your research 7 is it researchable in the
• 13:00 - 13:30 timeframe so depending on your project you may only have a few weeks or a few months to complete it your research question should be realistic to be completed during this time 8 does your title give you the opportunity to have an argument or a counter-argument you should have a question that has some element of debate you don't want your project to just be a description it's good if your project
• 13:30 - 14:00 can consider different or alternative perspectives often your project is being marked or evaluated and this is where you will pick up a lot of marks although you won't need to get into the arguments until later in your project do think carefully about this at the start because you don't want to get halfway through you only to discover that there is no scope in your project for debate remember coming up with a research question is a process you may end up revisiting your research questions a few
• 14:00 - 14:30 times and actually making changes this repetition or making changes is to be expected it is all part of the learning and development process now we'll consider a few example questions examples of good research questions here is an example of a question is animal testing a good thing this is a science medicine or ethics related question you'll notice that it could actually span multiple subjects however this is
• 14:30 - 15:00 an example of a question that could be more specific if you type animal testing into google it will show 1 billion three hundred and ten million results now that's a lot of information out there which is available to you using language like a good thing is very broad and open and it's hard to know what is meant by a good thing here so how could this question be made better like this is it necessary to use animal testing for
• 15:00 - 15:30 medical research is it necessary if good language for helping you to make a judgement it is not a simple yes-or-no answer for medical research makes the question more specific and gives you the chance to narrow your field of research animal testing is used for multiple things so it's good to be clear that this is to do with medicine here is an example of another question
• 15:30 - 16:00 has the world population increased in the past century this is an example related to geography or social science has the world population increased in the past century however is an example of a question that doesn't give much scope for research this is actually quite limited because it's not an open question it's a yes or no answer so how could this question be made better like this what factors have most influence
• 16:00 - 16:30 population growth in the fastest growing countries in the past century what factors gives you the chance to discuss multiple angles discussing what has influence population growth may be open to interpretation so this actually introduces an element of debate overall what factors have most influenced in this element of the question gives the chance to argue for or against the influence of different factors thereby
• 16:30 - 17:00 introducing an argument lastly narrowing this question your sir in the fastest growing countries for example this question could focus on China or India makes your research more focused and specific a century is a long time so you might either consider narrowing the question even further finally here is a history or drama related research question was Richard the third a bad King of England this question is very
• 17:00 - 17:30 broad whilst it could involve an element of debate the person doing this project actually might be making it too hard for themselves what about Richard the thirds rain exactly all his actions meant that you can have a debate oh how could this question be made better like this as evident death that Rick with 1/3 killed the princes in the tower as evidence suggests gives you the chance to debate provide arguments and counter-arguments
• 17:30 - 18:00 and challenge alternative perspectives from different people this question mentions evidence it makes it clear that you will be looking at a range of evidence for those of you who don't know the clue young princess went missing from the Tower of London Richard the third was their uncle and he aspired to the throne so this is an example of a specific and answerable question about a specific event for you to address all the while involving an element of debate now
• 18:00 - 18:30 inspiration to get started breathing a bit further is really important before you pick a research question or topic in your project either way before deciding you should use existing research and resources to test out your question get ideas for improving it and be sure you can defend why you've actually chosen it this can actually take a few days a few weeks depending on how long you have before you submit your question so do
• 18:30 - 19:00 check with any requirements or with your adviser if you're not sure where to start you can use access ed subject library to explore different subjects that you're interested in this is the subject library which can be found in the link at the end of this video access that subject library has podcasts videos subject materials and also extended reading for those of you they already have an idea you can use BBC webpages for content relevance your title and
• 19:00 - 19:30 Wikipedia also has very helpful contents pages on most topics which can suggest areas for your research Wikipedia is also well referenced at the bottom of most pages so this gives you a good route into research sources this is important for understanding who wrote the research and where it comes from to likewise you can go in to access a research-based curricular library and this has course books to see what real-life researchers are working on in your subject area further resources
• 19:30 - 20:00 which include free and open access to academic resources for inspiration can be found at open door or searching Google Scholar before settling on your topic and research question you should explore it further this is the table of questions that you could use after doing some reading to check whether your topic or research question might be suitable it's a clear set of steps you can follow and it will help guide your thinking so in this table how to test your idea
• 20:00 - 20:30 topic this is what the project will study research question your challenge what will your research question be or what challenge will you have if you are doing a practical project audience why are you undertaking this project and who is it for resources where will your research your data your information where will that come from will it be books the internet magazines newspapers
• 20:30 - 21:00 will you do the research yourself like interviews or surveys what is my method how will you carry out your project for example you might review a number of sources of information then there's the justification which is why is it best for you to take this approach in new research lastly limitations this means that there are things in your research project that you can't or won't address as with every project is just as important to be clear
• 21:00 - 21:30 on what your project won't cover as what you will cover and this will help you to keep your research narrow there are a series of other things that you'll learn and need to know for conducting research project these include referencing and a bibliography this is the process of acknowledging the source of any opinions facts data or other information you use so when you have used other people's work in some way this is good academic practice and it avoids you plagiarizing
• 21:30 - 22:00 in other words copying the work of others then there's how to collect information and data and maybe even your own research which could include surveys or questionnaires there is how to write a literature review this is reviewing thinking around your topic whether it be academic papers books reports or news articles there's writing a strong dissertation showing your opinion which is how to structure a dissertation and
• 22:00 - 22:30 weave in your own opinion then there's giving a strong presentation of your findings you may be required to write your project as a report in which case spelling and grammar and formatting should all be really clear if you are doing a practical form of a presentation you should think clearly about your audience we will be releasing more videos that cover these topics so be sure to stay tuned 3 PAP here are the
• 22:30 - 23:00 final kit we have in mind for being a good researcher these are skills we touched on earlier and a ones that you can build now research projects can seem a bit intimidating but don't worry being aware of these skills will help you in doing your project our later videos in this series will go into some of these in more detail so do stay tuned so 7 skills of a good researcher organizing and creating a good plan create an outline with key deadlines for your
• 23:00 - 23:30 project so that you stick to them critical thinking skills this is the ability to analyze facts and form a judgment being open to feedback and making changes receiving feedback to help refine your project is really important the ability to argue and debate a point having good writing skills and collecting a diverse range of information from different sources lastly is the ability to step outside
• 23:30 - 24:00 your comfort zone and think creatively so what if my research doesn't go to planned well this is not a problem it means that something was tried out and tested and it does give you the opportunity to learn you should expect to make changes to your research question in the very early stages you should expect to change your mind about things as you go which is why you do the
• 24:00 - 24:30 research bit first before presenting your findings and you should expect to discuss with your teacher or adviser as you go along as you learn more you'll likely change your mind and even need to tweak your exact question but they can help so how to prepare for this well give yourself extra time expect everything to take longer than you might think right a backwards schedule start with the due date and then work backwards now what you should be doing at each stage
• 24:30 - 25:00 review this with anyone who is helping you with your project to make sure that you haven't missed something too Lois Lee leave time for a vision that's rewrites or changes and referencing properly to meet any marking requirements Oh final tips for research project success the first is get planning it can be tempting to scrimp on this section but it's worth investing the time you can
• 25:00 - 25:30 have a brilliant project but if planning is not in place this could set you back so plan your topic and research question make a timeline of when you're going to work on your project and set yourself deadlines you should draw up a research plan that clearly maps out what sections of the project you'll be completing at what time this will help you keep on track so you can be realistic with your project aims and also so that you can give yourself enough time for each part of the project then there's thinking big
• 25:30 - 26:00 but being realistic with what you can achieve don't be afraid to be imaginative this is the really important one this is a chance for you to learn independently and be creative with your work at the same time you can make this easier for yourself by setting clear boundaries making your research question specific and limiting yourself to what is achievable in the time frame and also with the resources that are available to you lastly presenting well if you are
• 26:00 - 26:30 deciding to present your research project remember that presentation is key this is really important for how people understand your work and in making them want to read on so think about your audience whether you're doing a written or artifact project finally what's next now that you have had an introduction to research projects you can think about the topic for your project and what you might like to research
• 26:30 - 27:00 so thinking about your topic spend 30 minutes to 60 minutes doing some reading on a topic of interest to try and refine your subject area once you've decided on your topic you'll now be in a position to refine your research question Tim do you use our framework to try and check your all-important research question this will help you to frame it once you have thought about your research project and question do get in touch with your supervisor or teacher who can point you in the direction of further resources
• 27:00 - 27:30 and links for further resources please check the video comments section further resources include exemplar project work for the extended project qualification a research based project qualification and links to videos from research project specialist dr. John Taylor thanks for listening