CSH077-2 Research Project in Contemporary Clinical Practice

Unit Outline: Semester 2 2024, Gardens Point, Internal

Overview

Medical imaging practice is a rapidly advancing field and research has a place in informing professional practice. This final year unit further develops your research skills in conducting a research project to source new knowledge applicable to contemporary clinical practice. You will apply the skills developed in both CSH600 Evidence-Based Clinical Practice and PUB561 Statistical Methods in Health to complete an individual research project of relevance to contemporary professional practice in medical imaging.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

1. Apply research skills to design, plan and execute a research project
2. Select and critically analyse peer reviewed literature relevant to your topic
3. Collect, organise, and analyse data and interpret findings
4. Report research findings through written and other methods to peers and medical imaging professionals.

Content

Learning Approaches

This unit engages you through a series of workshops to assist with the research dissemination process. At these workshops you will be encouraged to join with peers to discuss the publication and review processes. Materials will also be provided online and you will be encouraged to interact through the online discussion board in Canvas. This will be particularly relevant during the clinical placements during the year as part of Transition to Professional Practice 1 & 2, when you are off campus for several weeks.
The main teaching approach is one of mentoring support through supervision.You will consult with your QUT academic supervisor in person or using electronic technology as required on a regular basis when undertaking your project. Where your project is clinically based there will also be a clinical advisor who will also be available to provide site specific assistance.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Feedback in this unit will be provided in the following ways:

• Formative feedback will be provided in workshops by peers and by your supervisor individually
• Generic comments may be provided through Canvas discussion board
• Comments from markers and criteria sheet gradings will provided for summative assessment items in Semester 1 which will assist and inform the activities being undertaken during Part 2 of the unit in preparation for the written article and oral presentation.

Assessment

Overview

Assessment items in Semester 2 of this unit will assess your work in the later phases of the research project.  As you move through the processes of preparing the written and oral presentations of your research project and its outcomes, clinical partners and prominent medical imaging researchers will assist in workshop delivery. Formative feedback will be provided during the workshops where these aspects will be reviewed and discussed amongst your peers.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Oral Presentation

Evidence-based practice informs all good clinical practice. As a graduating medical imaging practitioner, you are asked to present your proposed research topic and plan in the form of a three-minute-thesis (3MT). Your 3MT will follow the guidelines and rules of the national 3MT competition and be suitable for an intelligent non-specialist audience. It will provide context and significance for your research and include a plan for your approach to meet your aims within the construct of a succinct and engaging presentation using limited visual aids. Assessment 2 from CSH077-1 and assessor feedback will provide the majority of the context for this submission.

Assessment: Journal article

As a graduating medical imaging practitioner, you are asked to present your research study in the form of a written manuscript ready to be submitted for publication in a relevant professional journal - Journal of Medical Radiation Sciences (JMRS). The journal article will follow author guidelines from the JMRS and some specific unit task instructions, to present your research as a critical analysis/narrative review or an original experimental article. You will demonstrate your ability to collect, organise, analyse and interpret findings and present it to peers and medical imaging professionals. Following graduation, well written articles will be encouraged to be submitted for publication with the assistance of your supervisors who can now actively become co-authors.

This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.

Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Risk Assessment Statement

Substantial computer-based work will be required. You should ensure that your workstations are properly adjusted and that regular rest breaks are taken.