An Innovative Assessment for a Research Methods Module: Assessing Master’s Students Analytical Skills Beyond a Traditional Dissertation

Abstract

Research methods education is significant for enabling postgraduate students to demonstrate a mastery of knowledge and skills required to achieve their degree (QAA, 2020). Yet there is a lack of research on how students are assessed in research methods apart from a ‘final project’ (Earley, 2014). This presents a gap in pedagogical scholarship in engineering education on the assessment of student’s analytical skills to conduct research. To address this gap, the paper investigates the research question: “How to assess engineering master’s student’s analytical skills for research?” The authors present a case study of reflective practice in which an innovative analytical skills assessment was designed for 955 full-time postgraduate students enrolled on a transferrable skills module offered to 6 master’s courses. The paper presents challenges in designing a constructively aligned assessment for a diverse group of students with varying research interests and disciplines. Based on the authors’ reflections, recommendations are provided on the design of innovative assessment of analytical skills for a large class of engineering and business students as well as a call to develop a culture of engineering education scholarship on research methods education.