Course Description
This course served as a secondary level of principles of research methodology and how principles are applied for conducting research in health sciences. At the completion of this course, students were advance on the overall structure of the research process. The course helped students continue the literature search, forming outlines and problem statements. This course helped prepare students for their own scholarly project by preparing a draft of their final research project.
Assessments & Activities
Students were assessed and graded on their performance and participation in completing a research organization document, an outline and first draft of the capstone research paper, and e-portfolio contributions.
Capstone Research Project
In Research Methods in Medical Dosimetry I, students formed groups of 4 and selected a hypothesis that they would conduct research and complete a research paper on at the end of the medical dosimetry program. This satisfies the capstone research requirement for a master's degree.
My groups' hypothesis is: "The training a medical dosimetry student receives affects their confidence and success as a new medical dosimetrist." There are various factors being analyzed, including if the student has a radiation therapy background, if the treatment planning system used at the students clinical internship site differs from the one used at the site they acquired a job at, how quickly the student received a job after graduation and the type of position (full time, part time, or per diem), satisfaction with their clinical internship, and if they received a job at their clinical internship site.
For this course, we were required to create an outline with designated sections due in weeks 4, 6, and 9. The first draft of our research paper was due in week 10 and the final 2 weeks of the course were spent making the necessary revisions.
Please follow the links below to view my groups' outline and first draft of our capstone research project.
Capstone Research Project Outline
Capstone Research Project First Draft
Capstone Research Project
In Research Methods in Medical Dosimetry I, students formed groups of 4 and selected a hypothesis that they would conduct research and complete a research paper on at the end of the medical dosimetry program. This satisfies the capstone research requirement for a master's degree.
My groups' hypothesis is: "The training a medical dosimetry student receives affects their confidence and success as a new medical dosimetrist." There are various factors being analyzed, including if the student has a radiation therapy background, if the treatment planning system used at the students clinical internship site differs from the one used at the site they acquired a job at, how quickly the student received a job after graduation and the type of position (full time, part time, or per diem), satisfaction with their clinical internship, and if they received a job at their clinical internship site.
For this course, we were required to create an outline with designated sections due in weeks 4, 6, and 9. The first draft of our research paper was due in week 10 and the final 2 weeks of the course were spent making the necessary revisions.
Please follow the links below to view my groups' outline and first draft of our capstone research project.
Capstone Research Project Outline
Capstone Research Project First Draft
Self Reflection
At the completion of every course students are asked to reflect on a series of questions that focused on their knowledge gained, skills, areas of opportunity, and overall thoughts about the course.
The new knowledge and skills I gained during this course were...
Though I have written research papers on my own, this has been my first time working as part of a group to write one. It was necessary to have strong communication and time management skills to be an effectively participating member of the research group. This course really allowed me to further cultivate those skills.
The new knowledge and skills will benefit me...
I feel confident in using the skills that I have acquired and grown throughout this course to pursue research opportunities during my career as a medical dosimetrist.
I struggle with...
I had a difficult time with the AMA guidelines, specifically those for figures and tables, as it was my task to create graphical representations of the responses to the questions from the surveys we were analyzing for our research hypothesis. This section of our first draft will have to be reworked, so it will be an opportunity for me to gain more experience with the AMA guidelines and become for comfortable and confident is using them.
I feel pretty good about...
I feel very good about where our group is at this point in our research paper. Our group works really well together and feel that we are in a great spot to successfully complete the remaining aspects of our capstone research project by the end of our final semester of the medical dosimetry program.
Other reflective thoughts...
The locations and distances of all the members of the group has proven to be somewhat of an obstacle as we really are not able to work through this research project face-to-face. Also, this has been an eye opening experience in conducting group research as opposed to individual research. Though it provides unique challenges, the input and insight gained from all the group members is invaluable.
The new knowledge and skills I gained during this course were...
Though I have written research papers on my own, this has been my first time working as part of a group to write one. It was necessary to have strong communication and time management skills to be an effectively participating member of the research group. This course really allowed me to further cultivate those skills.
The new knowledge and skills will benefit me...
I feel confident in using the skills that I have acquired and grown throughout this course to pursue research opportunities during my career as a medical dosimetrist.
I struggle with...
I had a difficult time with the AMA guidelines, specifically those for figures and tables, as it was my task to create graphical representations of the responses to the questions from the surveys we were analyzing for our research hypothesis. This section of our first draft will have to be reworked, so it will be an opportunity for me to gain more experience with the AMA guidelines and become for comfortable and confident is using them.
I feel pretty good about...
I feel very good about where our group is at this point in our research paper. Our group works really well together and feel that we are in a great spot to successfully complete the remaining aspects of our capstone research project by the end of our final semester of the medical dosimetry program.
Other reflective thoughts...
The locations and distances of all the members of the group has proven to be somewhat of an obstacle as we really are not able to work through this research project face-to-face. Also, this has been an eye opening experience in conducting group research as opposed to individual research. Though it provides unique challenges, the input and insight gained from all the group members is invaluable.