Course Title: Research Project Part A

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Research Project Part A

Credit Points: 12.00


Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

Course Coordinator: Leo Ruschena

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 99251982

Course Coordinator Email: leo.ruschena@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: 13D18

Course Coordinator Availability: any time when available


Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

Candidates to the Masters program (and hence this course) have to have:

(a) successfully completed the Graduate Diploma in OHS Management with a Distinction average mark

(b) identifed a suitable research project that is approved by the Course coordinator.


Course Description

Each student will undertake an Occupational Health and Safety research project under the supervision of an academic member of the OHS Unit. The project will often be directly relevant to Occupational Health and Safety so the results obtained could well help solve real OHS problems or advance knowledge in Occupational Health and Safety Management. It is expected that the successful outcome will expand the current OHS understanding in the area of research.

PUBH1338 is the first half of the research and would require defining the research question and completion of the Literature analysis


Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

Specific capabilities include:

  • Identify potential and current health and safety hazards or problems in the workplace
  • Locate, evaluate, interpret and provide occupational health and safety information appropriate to the workplace
  • Consult and communicate in a manner which recognizes and makes appropriate use of the industrial framework and social context of the workplace
  • Apply knowledge of relevant legislation, standards and codes of practice in the research activities.
  • Write an appropriate literature research document


At the completion of this course, the students will have an understanding on the application of OHS management principles as applied to a real OHS problem. This will include the issues of interaction with people and systems within organisations, prioritisation of resources, consultation, analysis and reporting.



Overview of Learning Activities

The student will have, by the commencement of semester 2, refined their research proposal through relevant literature search and discussions with their supervisor. The student will be required to submit a brief on their proposal within the first 3 weeks of the semester. The brief should be seen as a “defence of concept” and should clearly identify:
• The research question being examined
• The population/organisation being examined
• Preliminary literature analysis
• The proposed methodology
• The likely difficulties that will be encountered, and proposed control methods
• The proposed timetable


Overview of Learning Resources

Library resources


Overview of Assessment

The students are required to provide a draft  of their thesis by the end of the semester encomapassing

1. Introduction

  • clearly set out the aim/objectives
  • location, people, etc
  • clearly pose the research question(s)
  • Describe the methodology

2. Comprehensive literature analysis relevant to the topic, and conclusions arising from this in relation to how this research fits into the current literature. The Harvard referencing system should be followed rigorously.
3. Description of current project

4. Proposed Timeline for completion of thesis

It is recognised that as the project continues, some of the above may also change in the final thesis.

The draft thesis will provided the only assessment for the course and will be marked as Pass/Fail without further grades.