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Capstone Project

Module description

Public health leaders are responsible for developing and implementing major strategy or institutional projects that will contribute towards organisational strategic objectives. This capstone module at the end of the MPH offers consolidation of learning across the programme and offers a reflection on how new knowledge can be applied to your role and organisation. Drawing on the research literature and the tools and frameworks developed across the year, you will choose a public health problem relevant to your professional interests and develop a focused discussion to support decision-making. The format of assessment will be as a 4,000-word article for a journal meeting a mixed policy-practice audience, such as Health Affairs, Perspectives in Public Health or Public Health.

This module is delivered by distance learning via our online platform. Teaching will draw on a range of high-quality recorded lectures, interspersed with consolidation sessions, workshops and group work.  Synchronous sessions will be held via Teams or Zoom.

Module aims - intentions of the module

Through workshops and online sessions, the work-based module aims to transfer new analytical and critical thinking skills to the design and execution of a research project. This project also allows you an opportunity to add to your personal development plan by reflecting upon how your knowledge, skills and behaviour have been applied in creating a strategic innovation project.

The situational analysis and resulting proposal will include evidence obtained using a range of research methods to show that the learner has understood the project scoping process. The skills and behaviour evidenced include the use of data and knowledge management and consideration of sustainable practices.

Project-Based Learning - Project at a glance:

• focused on your job
• managed and led by you
• may be a small project or a discrete part of a much larger project
• an area of work you already do that you can take responsibility for
• an area of work you want to do differently to effect positive change
• will be supported by your line manager and reviewed at a meeting with your academic mentor

Generating ideas for your project:  Once you know the scope of your project, use the following questions to help you think of some initial ideas:

• look at your job description, is there something you would like to do differently?
• look at your CPD goals, is there an area you would like to develop in more detail or do you have new skills that you want to put into practice?
• think about your organisation, what opportunities are there?
• could your project be part of a larger project being undertaken by your organisation?

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Critically evaluate evidence and apply learning frameworks to a chosen problem
• 2. Collect and analyse data in relation to a specific public health problem

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Reflect on generalisability and applicability of public health evidence
• 4. Develop and evaluate scientific hypotheses with relevance to public health

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Communicate technical and theoretical ideas in writing
• 6. Communicate scientific evidence to a range of stakeholders

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, an example of an overall structure is as follows:

You will be paired with an academic supervisor to support development and execution of the Capstone Project. Projects should include some combination of situational analysis, project scoping, systems thinking, stakeholder communication, influence and negotiation and research design and finally professional report writing. In preparation for the Capstone Project, you will be offered 5 hours of seminars and preparatory meetings addressing topics such as ethics approval, data collection and project writing.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Please refer to the TQA section on Referral/Deferral: http://as.exeter.ac.uk/academic-policy-standards/tqa-manual/aph/consequenceoffailure/

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

ELE – College to provide hyperlink to appropriate pages

CMI - Management Direct - an online management resource portal. Management Direct allows managers at any level to learn, research and think. It offers fast, 24-hour access to the latest digital content to help overcome hundreds of managerial challenges from absence to performance to change: 5 minute, 20 minute and extended briefings; Creative tools for problem solving; Hundreds of checklists and interactive scenarios to aid self-directed learning; Self-Assessments and automatic CPD recording/reporting; Document templates and best practice guides.

Key words search

Scenario planning; Situational Analysis; Work based learning; Proposal