Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê

What was the context for the collaboration?

The Institute of Finance and Technology (IFT) approached the ACC to discuss support for their MSc students to understand the genre of the research proposal in their context and the department’s expectations of how students write the proposal.

What did we do?

The ACC lecturer collaborated closely with two IFT lecturers to plan and deliver a two-hour session for the MSc programmes, a month before their submission deadline.

Preliminary needs analysis and previous proposal samples were used to design slides, lesson procedure and activities.

The theoretical part of the workshop focused on Swales and Feak’s (2012) ideas about introductory moves in research projects (establish a research territory, establish a niche, occupy the niche), which was later exemplified and practised in a variety of collaborative activities.Ìý

What factors made this an effective intervention?

The active participation of both the IFT lecturers in the session delivery was one of the distinctive and beneficial features of the sessions, making it a successful co-teaching experience.

They were involved in monitoring group work, answering students’ subject-specific questions and ‘telling stories’ about projects from previous years.

This, combined with the timing of the session and the tailored materials used, such as examples of previous proposals, made the session directly relevant to the students.

What our staff and students say

"It simplified the actual proposal writing, and it now seems much less intimidating." – IFT student feedback“