UWLFlex: Enhance Your Learning Experience | Module Summary and Aims

UWLFlex has been designed to complement face-to-face learning and build on our reputation for excellence in teaching, learning and student support. We will be able to deliver a University experience that is more collaborative, active, and relevant for an increasingly digital world thus enabling us to provide you with an improved student experience. UWLFlex will provide you with an enhanced range of online tools, to help facilitate your learning whether this takes place primarily on site or online.

Module summary content and aims

This module is aimed to consolidate the learning from across the course in an applied format to enable students to demonstrate in-depth understanding of theories, frameworks, models and concepts relevant to a specific business issue. The module is designed to be an applied equivalent of a more traditional dissertation module. Instead of writing an academic dissertations based on original research, students will be conducting applied research on a specific company, market, or business opportunity and write up their results in the format of a consulting project, industry analysis or business plan. Thus, the module will help students develop an advanced mastery of analysis and synthesis of data in a practical context. Through guided research they will demonstrate the ability critically to evaluate evidence pertaining to a specific business issue in a practical context and present conclusions and recommendations. 

This module also provides opportunities for students to synthesise and apply their knowledge and experiences from their whole course. It helps students to successfully negotiate the transition to the next stage of their career, whether to the workplace or further study. Students will be expected to introduce the context and the issue; to write a methodology; to include an appropriate and current concise review of the literature; to show appropriate data collection, presentation and analysis, based on sound research; draw relevant conclusions; make realistic and cost-effective recommendations; and to give clear references and where appropriate a bibliography. The recommended word count will be 4000 (excluding references and appendices). All students will be provided with four workshops (3hrs * 4); as part of guidance in completing the Research project.

Specific expectations students can have of tutors:

Our tutors are committed to supporting and enhancing student learning. They will cover the module content applying diverse teaching methods such as workshops (some of which will be recorded and made available on Blackboard especially during the phased return to University post government advice on Covid -19 lockdown). Teaching resources will be available on Blackboard.

Formative feedback opportunities will be embedded in the structure and schedule of the module to enable students to receive formative feedback at various stages of the module to enhance their learning.

Specific expectations tutors will have of students:

As is widely understood within the higher education sector, the quality of outcome a student gets from a module is related to the amount of effort that they put in. To increase your chances of gaining maximum benefit from this module, we recommend that:

?   You attend all scheduled lectures/workshops and/or seminars

?   Be professional in behaviour and communication

?   Regular visit to and utilisation of resources on the Blackboard platform for this module 

?   Seek advice from the module tutor and your allocated topic lead on matters relating to this module 

?   If you will be absent, please inform the tutor by email in advance as a courtesy ? Submit your project on time.

Learning outcomes to be assessed

1. Identify, define, and justify a business issue that is of strategic relevance to the chosen organisation.
2. Critically analyse and discuss existing literature, contemporary business policies and practices relevant to the chosen issue.
3. Evaluate and select appropriate theories/frameworks based on the chosen issue.
4. Critically evaluate different research methods and apply appropriate research method and design for their Business project.
5. Undertake a systematic analysis of quantitative and/or qualitative information and present the results in a clear and consistent format.
6. Draw realistic and appropriate conclusions and make recommendations supported by cost implications and ethical considerations.
7. Develop and present a persuasive and coherent business research project.