DA6031 - Professional Research Project

Most of your learning on this Degree Apprenticeship module will be in your workplace. You will already have gained a theoretical understanding of many topics through other modules. This, together with your experience of quantity surveying in the workplace, will enable you to explore potential topics of interest to you and your employer. You will gain a theoretical understanding of research methods through a small number of live (online or face-to-face) university sessions and be directed to online resources such as recorded lectures, videocasts, podcasts, electronic books, journal articles and websites. You will agree with your Professional Research Project Supervisor and Workplace Mentor a Module Learning Plan (MLP) designed to achieve your research aims and the Module Learning Outcomes via a series of directed and independent workplace learning and research activities. The main source of scheduled activities throughout the module will be meetings with your allocated Project Supervisor.

Due to the nature of this module, there is a greater proportion of work-based learning (estimated at 240 hours) and a smaller amount of scheduled activity than for the technical modules, and it stretches over the final 16 months of your degree programme. This is estimated at 4 hours of ‘Seminars’ (synchronous delivery, most likely all online via Blackboard Collaborate), 4 hours of ‘Lectures’ (asynchronous online delivery via Blackboard and Blackboard Collaborate), and 2 hours ‘Tutorials (1-to-1 support from your Workplace Mentor and Workplace Coach), plus 30 hours of Project Supervision (meetings with your allocated Project Supervisor and/or Workplace Mentor over the course of this 16-month module. The remaining hours in the Notional Student Workload for the module are attributed to independent learning, with the estimated ratio of tutor-guided to student independent learning at 1:2, as appropriate for a Level 6 module.

Your Module Tutor(s) will deliver an online module induction session and lead a small number of live sessions that enable you to interact with your tutor and peers. They will provide and direct you to essential and recommended online resources available via the University’s eLearning Portal and University Library. Outside of live group sessions, you will meet (face-to-face or online) with your Professional Research Project Supervisor on regular basis for academic advice on your research methods and topic area.

Your Workplace Mentor will also support you in developing your Module Learning Plan, particularly in facilitating access to relevant workplace resources and data. You may also discuss your Module Learning Plan with your Workplace Coach.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

Knowledge & Understanding:
MLO1: Synthesise disciplinary knowledge and professional experience to identify a pertinent quantity surveying challenge in your sector

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
MLO2: Apply appropriate research methods to collate, analyse and interpret research data


MLO3: Communicate research findings in the form of a professional report with academic rigour and an oral/visual presentation


Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):

MLO4: Demonstrate independent thinking and curiosity to identify, develop and justify solutions

MLO5: Apply appropriate research ethics and data protection to a professional research project

You will be formatively assessed by the completion of the workplace learning activities identified in your Module Learning Plan. You will receive informal, often verbal, formative feedback from your Workplace Mentor, and sometimes from other colleagues and your Workplace Coach. You will also have the opportunity for periodic formative feedback throughout the module from your Project Supervisor, particularly verbally during meetings.

Your first assessment (25%) will be a formal 15-minute verbal presentation of your proposal, with visual aids such as PowerPoint slides, plus Q&A. The presentation may be made via either a live online session or a pre-recorded submission, with the possibility of face-to-face presentations if practical.

Your final assessment (75%) will be written coursework in the form of a Professional Report, that should be written for an industry audience while demonstrating academic rigour.

These two pieces of assessment will provide you with the opportunity to translate your research and workplace learning into a coherent output that demonstrates that you have achieved the module learning outcomes.

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This module is an integral part of your Degree Apprenticeship programme, designed in collaboration with employers to meet the requirements of the Construction Quantity Surveyor and Chartered Surveyor Apprenticeship Standards and provide a solid skills base for career progression and professional qualification.

This module is a final test of your maturity and independence as well as of your research skills and intellectual ability and demonstration of your Northumbria Graduate Characteristics. You will identify a pertinent quantity surveying challenge in your sector and learn to apply appropriate research methods, demonstrate independent thinking and succinctly communicate research findings.

You will gain theoretical understanding through university sessions and online resources but as a Degree Apprentice, you will do most of your learning in the context of your quantity surveying role via a series of workplace learning activities agreed with your Workplace Mentor.