Research Engagement, Participation and Impact (Online)

Overview

• You’ll learn why and how to involve the public and other stakeholders in research creation, oversight, design, conduct and interpretation.
• You’ll also reflect on research from a variety of perspectives and explore strategies to help researchers and stakeholders work effectively together.
• You’ll learn from a course team with a track record of high-quality research examining impact and engagement.
• The course runs for a duration of 10 weeks.

This course is run by the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre (EPPI-Centre), part of UCL Institute of Education (IOE). The EPPI-Centre is recognised worldwide for its work developing methods for diverse kinds of systematic review and for the production of policy-relevant research.

Who the course is for

• students at Masters level or above who are planning a career in research or policy
• experienced researchers, policymakers and practitioners in public and voluntary services.

Those taking this course have a wide range of interests, including health and social care, but also other policy areas such as education, international development, social work and criminology.

Course content

During this course you’ll cover:

• Research, knowledge and power
• Research and inclusive decision-making 
• Introducing outsiders into the worlds of research - who, how and why?
• Stakeholder involvement in the design and conduct of research
• Stakeholder involvement in research at the institutional level
• Evaluating stakeholder engagement and involvement

Course structure and dates

You’ll learn online using Moodle (a virtual learning environment). All learning materials are provided through this site.

In each week of the course, you’ll receive video and reading resources. You’ll have tasks to complete, sometimes individually, sometimes in pairs or small groups.

Feedback will be provided on activities through a mixture of peer-to peer-and tutor assessment.

Up to two real-time seminars may be run during the course. Times for these will be set near the course start date and they will be recorded for those unable to attend.

Typical activities include:

• reading a journal article or book chapter and identifying key themes
• drafting short summaries on a topic
• posting comments and observations on your own reading and learning and providing feedback to other students.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course you should be able to:

• identify the variety of perspectives, interests and types of expertise that different stakeholders, such as service users, practitioners and policy-makers might bring to a research project
• identify a range of approaches to supporting such work, including stakeholder consultations and collaborations
• apply this knowledge and understanding to your own interests and ways of working

Certificates

You can request a certificate of attendance on completing the course. The course activities form part of a more complete Master’s-level module. Please contact the administrator if you would like further detail about studying for credit at Master’s-level.

Fees

£665 per participant.

How to book

Credit/Debit card booking

If you can pay by credit/debit card (and you are strongly advised to do so as it saves time) you should click on the Book Now link above which will take you to the UCL online store. You will be asked to register your details and you should follow the online booking procedures. You will be sent an automatic confirmation of your booking initially, while you will receive a further confirmation from the short course team when we have received your booking.

Invoice

If you wish to pay be invoice please follow these instructions.

1. You should first obtain a purchase order number from your finance department at your school or college and the name of the person authorising the booking.
2. Click on the Register Here button below.
3. Complete and submit the form by clicking on the submit button at the bottom of the form.

Your booking will be handled manually and you will receive a confirmation when your booking has been processed.

Register Here

About the course leaders

Dr Rebecca Rees - Course Leader

Dr Rees is Senior Lecturer in Evidence Informed Policy and Practice. She has explored social research methodology in the fields of public health, education and complementary medicine, with a particular focus on equity and informing practice and policy decision making. She has focused on methods for producing policy-relevant research syntheses, which require different stakeholders to work together to identify, analyse and interpret multiple types of research as a step towards developing solutions.

Gillian Stokes

Gillian works on health-focused systematic reviews and primary research on stakeholder engagement. Her research topics range from the impact of medical conditions on various demographic groups to the health benefits of improved domestic services. Being a qualified healthcare practitioner, Gillian’s research interests generally centre on medicine, public health and developing research methods in evidence-based health policy-creation and stakeholder involvement. Gillian is particularly interested in research involving children and people from underrepresented communities.