Professional Placement

Alternative Placement Activity.

MAJOR RESEARCH TASK.

Major Research Task Detail.

Using the template provided, review a portfolio of UK national sport strategies and policy priorities and produce a Recommendations Report. The review should aim to understand what the key political messages are surrounding elite/community sport in the UK and how relevant organisations are responding to;

 

· Organisational priorities and service development

· The impact UK political priorities on sport workforce development

· Future trends and impacts on workforce development

· Sectoral impact e.g. coaching, exercise and fitness elite sport

· International perspectives of key industry trends (Major Task only).

IMPORTANT.

· You must complete the report using the template provided on Moodle. Please note Appendix A must be completed in full to support your writing however please note it is not included in your 2500 word count. The report can be written in the 3rd and/or 1st person

· A portfolio of reports and articles have been provided for review. For the Major Task, students must review all documents

· Your Research Task does not replace your PORT 1 assessment. The task is designed to enable you to demonstrate the effort and engagement that is required to fulfil the placement element of the module. You will not receive a mark for your task (in the same way that Placement Validation Forms are not marked) however your work will be looked at to reflect your level of engagement, and to highlight how well you have engaged with the task in light of the hours that were not fulfilled via your original placement

· You must therefore still submit your SSP5103 PORT 1 assessment however for Section 3 ‘Placement Reflection’ Major Research Task students are required to reflect upon the skills developed as part of the Major Research Task (the expectation here is that the skills you identify will be research-related – see support documents provided on Moodle).

REPORT CONSIDERATIONS.

1. Research-informed Literature

Your work must be informed and supported by scholarly material that is relevant to and focused on the task(s) set. You should provide evidence that you have accessed a wide range of sources, which may be academic, governmental and industrial; these sources may include academic journal articles, textbooks, current news articles, organisational documents, and websites. You should consider the credibility of your sources; academic journals are normally highly credible sources while websites require careful consideration/selection and should be used sparingly. Any sources you use should be current and up-to-date, typically published within the last five years or so, though seminal works in the field may be older. You must provide evidence of your research/own reading throughout your work, using in-text citations in the main body of your work and a reference list that is alphabetical at the end of your work. Please use the Harvard referencing system.

Specific to this assignment: Relevant literature is required from a range of credible sources to support your critical review and recommendations.

2. Knowledge and Understanding of Subject

Your work must demonstrate the growing extent of your knowledge and understanding of concepts and underlying principles associated with the subject area. Knowledge relates to the facts, information and skills you have acquired through your learning. You demonstrate your understanding by interpreting the meaning of the facts and information (knowledge). This means that you need to select and include in your work the concepts, techniques, models, theories, etc. appropriate to the task(s) set. You should be able to explain the theories, concepts, etc. meaningfully to show your understanding. Your mark/grade will also depend upon the extent to which you demonstrate your knowledge and understanding; ideally each should be complete and detailed, with comprehensive coverage.

3. Analysis

Your work must contain evidence of logical, analytical thinking, evaluation and synthesis. For example, to examine and break information down into parts, make inferences, compile, compare and contrast information. This means not just describing What! but also justifying: Why? How? When? Who? Where? At all times, you must provide justification for your arguments and judgements. Evidence that you have reflected upon the ideas of others within the subject area is crucial to you providing a reasoned and informed debate within your work. Furthermore, you should provide evidence that you are able to make sound judgements and convincing arguments using data and concepts. Sound, valid conclusions are necessary and must be derived from the content of your work. There should be no new information presented within your conclusion. Where relevant, alternative solutions and recommendations may be proposed.

Specific to this assignment : Your critical review will need to consider previous literature and collected relevant audit data, to prepare a persuasive set of recommendations. You must be able to justify and defend your ideas and conclusions utilising appropriate literature to construct your arguments. Suggested criteria for analysis can include

· The timeliness of the article

· The degree to which the articles/reports makes an original contribution the logic of the view put forward

· The validity of the evidence put forward

· The theoretical framework used; is the framework valid?

· The methodology used; is the methodology appropriate?

· Is the methodological approach explained clearly?

· Does the methodological approach have any weaknesses?

· Is the study sufficiently comprehensive and thorough?

· Is anything important omitted in the research?

· Are the findings presented and described clearly and fully?

· Do the findings seem sound?

· Could the data be interpreted in another way?

· Do/does the author(s) account for everything in the data or do they ignore something that might be important?

· The validity of the conclusions

· The thoroughness with which the article treats the topic

· The appropriateness of the article for the intended audience

· The extent to which it might satisfy the specific needs of a specific user.

4. Practical Application and Deployment

You should be able to demonstrate how the subject-related concepts and ideas relate to real world situations or a particular context. How do they work in practice? You will deploy models, methods, techniques, and/or theories, in that context, to assess current situations, perhaps to formulate plans or solutions to solve problems, some of which may be innovative and creative. This is likely to involve, for instance, the use of real world examples and cases, the application of a model or theory. You should show awareness of the limitations of concepts and theories when applied in particular contexts.

Specific to this assignment: You will have to produce a critical review which can include;

Introduction

· In the introduction you should: provide a context for the report (background information or shared knowledge). Give the title of the report

· Identify the agencies and their background and include some indication as to why the subject is important and thus worth writing about.

· identify the purpose of the article

· Give an indication of your overall impression of the article in general terms

Body

· summarise and analyse the contents of the reports

· make clear by frequent reference to the author(s) of the article that you are presenting the author(s) views, not yours

· an analytical summary of main findings/arguments/conclusions of article

· strengths/usefulness of article

· weaknesses/limitations/problems of the article especially for your purposes

Conclusion & Recommendations

· summarise the previous discussion

· make a final judgement on the value of the report

· provide recommendations on how this report may contribute to student career planning

5. Skills for Professional Practice

Your work must provide evidence of the attributes expected in professional practice. This includes demonstrating your individual initiative, reflective and analytical skills. You must communicate your ideas and arguments effectively through your assignment and logs. Work should be coherent and well-structured in presentation and organisation.