Course and Module Catalogue

The DPA is a professional doctorate designed to provide students with comprehensive training in research in the Business /Management fields in order to conduct a doctoral level research project that focuses on an applied / real world topic, a concept which is at the heart of Huddersfield Business School’s mission. … For more content click the Read More button below. The aim of the course is to provide doctoral training and research into a significant practical issue or a specific business or management challenge, normally in the area of the student’s own organisation. Through a programme of research training, followed by the completion of a supervised research project undertaken in a supportive research culture, students will make a significant contribution to research knowledge, as well as developing their personal managerial and leadership effectiveness whilst making a positive contribution to their own organisation. The DPA is targeted at professionals working in the public sector who seek to provide visionary and effective leadership in a policy and governance orientated environment in order to manage public resources fairly, efficiently and sustainably. Applicants will apply for the DPA at the beginning of their studies and will be advised based on their profile and research proposal. At the end of the taught programme if a candidate seeks to change from the DBA to DPA, or vice versa, this is possible subject to agreement with the Course Leader and the School Director of Graduate Education. The criteria for making such a change will be based on the topic under study, the sector in which it will be undertaken and the professional role of the researcher in that sector. A record of all decisions made will be kept. PhD and DBA/DPA programmes tend to attract different people. While PhD candidates tend to have career ambitions in academia and are at the beginning of their careers, DBA/DPA candidates are usually well established and reasonably successful in professional managerial roles. PhD research is usually focussed on identifying academic knowledge gaps with a view to making a theoretical contribution, while DBA/DPA candidates have usually identified a challenging issue in their management roles that they seek to find solutions to via research, with a key outcome being a practical application resulting from their findings, alongside their personal intellectual and professional development. As with PhD research, DBA/DPA candidates develop or create theoretical models, but it is the application of these to practical, and sometimes live, problems that helps to differentiate between the research routes.  Both PhD students and DBA/DPA candidates are required to collect data and a characteristic of DBA/DPA research is that the source of that data is usually from within candidates’ own organisations, and/or other businesses in the same sector. Undertaking a DBA/DPA encourages candidates to develop their own professional practice though the synthesis of original research, theoretical knowledge and their own reflectivity.   Both routes provide the same underpinning training in the taught elements of the programme. The Professional Doctorate comprises two parts: A taught programme of study is carried out in the first two years (or first year for full time students) and provides preparatory training for the doctoral research phase, culminating in the submission of a research thesis.  It contains four taught modules which address major aspects of research methods knowledge in a classroom-based setting. Students may only progress to the research phase when they have successfully completed the taught element. The doctoral research phase constitutes the substantive component of the DBA programme. Students are required to conduct an individual supervised research project which is written up in the form of a doctoral thesis (50,000 words). Students will have critically investigated and evaluated an approved topic, resulting in an independent and original contribution to knowledge in a relevant professional discipline, usually with a practical application.  Applying the skills they have learnt in the taught element of the programme, students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of research methods appropriate to the chosen field. In addition, students are required to submit a personal reflection and impact statement (4-5000 words) to demonstrate learning over the period of study. This should capture the candidates’ professional and personal reflections on their experience, and how these relate to their professional and research curiosity, critical thinking, creativity and innovation in their working environments.

14.1      Progression towards achieving a doctorate is assessed during the programme, both at formal progression panels, when gaps in knowledge or skills are identified, and informally through discussions with the candidate's supervisor. 14.2      Learning and teaching during the taught component of the course is delivered via workshops/seminars and supervisory meetings. … For more content click the Read More button below. Full time students in years 2 and 3 will be supported via supervisory sessions and Action Learning Sets. Full time students in year 1 will be invited to join action learning sets, but they are not compulsory. Attendance at the same learning sets by both part time and full time students, from different years will encourage informal mentoring and peer-to-peer learning and the creation of a DBA/DPA community. There will be a significant amount of self-directed learning including work based activity with an emphasis on student-centred and peer to peer learning. The student will be supported by a supervisory team allocated at the beginning of their studies. Where possible students will be encouraged to identify a mentor from their own organisation. This should be someone familiar with the research context who is committed to supporting the student. Mentors will be invited to termly meetings with supervisors and the course director so that they have access to the information they need to support their colleagues on the programme. They will be given access to University mentoring training. The taught programme of study is designed to develop transferable skills and to allow students to progressively increase their knowledge and confidence in professional and specialist aspects and doctorate level research methods. Student choice in the development of their research ideas, proposal design and research activity encourages greater engagement with and control over their learning and contribution to knowledge and their professional practice. The Huddersfield DBA/DPA thesis will be built around the need to investigate a management problem in a business or public sector context, analyse (and reflect upon this analysis) and make recommendations. The research can be qualitative or quantitative in nature, or both. The assessment strategy for the taught element has been designed to support learning that contributes to the final thesis and will measure achievement and progress.  Main supervisors will be expected to mark the submissions for all the taught elements, alongside a second marker. Assessment methods are described in each module specification and module guide. All learning outcomes in the taught component are assessed and the mode of assessment is specified for each outcome. The nature of the assessment varies and mirrors the modes of communication expected of graduates in the field of business management, leadership and administration. Throughout the taught component students will be encouraged to participate in peer assessment, progress monitoring and review. BDX0012 provides the main opportunity for this to be achieved, but all taught modules will include group discussions and feedback sessions. Personal Development Planning is embedded within BDX0012. This module has taught components that stretch across the first two years and supports continued reflection for the duration of the programme. This will help students to critically examine their progress on the course, reflect on their academic, personal and professional development, much of which will feed into the personal impact and reflection statement at the conclusion of the course. Personal Development Planning is also a recognised part of the research progression monitoring process. 14.3      Assessment aims to support learning and to measure achievement.  Assessment methods are described in each module specification and module guide. All learning outcomes in a module are assessed and the mode of assessment is specified for each outcome. Assessment methods for the DBA/DPA are all individual assignments, although the nature of the assessment varies from module to module. Assessments on three of the modules link to the research focus of their empirical research, and the fourth module’s assessment provides the scaffolding for the personal reflection and impact statement.  Details of module assessment are provided in the module specification documents available on the School’s Module Guide on the University’s Intranet site. http://halo.hud.ac.uk/moduleguides/