Summary

The course is a self-directed learning module with supporting tutorials, lectures, and workshops designed specifically for postgraduate physiotherapy students on the Cardiorespiratory, Paediatric and Neurophysiotherapy pathways. Lectures and tutorials will cover: practical exercises in literature searching skills and referencing in long documents, critical evaluation of literature; academic writing skills; verbal presentation skills; selection and evaluation of appropriate outcome measurement instruments used in physiotherapy; the research process in terms of process, planning and presentation.

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

After taking this module, you should be able to:

Competently undertake a systematic literature search and critically evaluate the literature. This includes consideration of levels of evidence as well as systematic and narrative reviews.
	Describe and evaluate clinical practice and research (different methods of outcome evaluation statistically and clinically important changes: p values, confidence intervals, numbers needed to treat) and the process of outcome measurement within the context of clinical practice and research
	Select and evaluate appropriate outcome measurement instruments (reliability, validity, cost, ease of use etc) used in physiotherapy practice, including interpretation of those used in publications
	Produce two pieces of academic writing, which have a logical structure and format and make good use of the relevant supporting literature.Confidently present the findings of a research question and an outcome measure to peers and tutors
Who is this module for?

The module is a core component of the postgraduate physiotherapy programmes at UCL (cardiorespiratory, neurophysiotherapy and paediatrics).

Teaching and Learning Methods

This module will be delivered via a combination of face-to-face lectures, workshops and seminars. Teaching will be facilitated by relevant experts in their field. Online learning activities will be included to support the face-to-face delivery.

Moodle, the UCL virtual learning platform will be used to facilitate communication both between tutors and students, and between the students themselves, and also to provide learning resources and feedback. Lecture capture technology will be used throughout the module for recording of lectures, so that you can refer back to them during revision periods.

Selected Reading List

Corr, S & Siddons, L (2005) An Introduction to the Selection of Outcome Measures

McDonough, C - Health Status Measurement, Responsiveness and Sensitivity to Change

Payton, O: Research: The Validation of Clinical Practice

Streiner, D: Health measurement scales: a practical guide to their development and use