Overview
"To lead, inspire and shape the future of sport"
Summary
The main aim of the course is to produce graduates who are equipped with the key knowledge and skills to develop coaching within Northern Ireland to assist with lifelong participation in sport or physical activity, excellence and leadership. This will be achieved by accruing and disseminating a body of knowledge from key experts involved in coach development both directly and in partnership with governing bodies in sport, utilising innovative and appropriate communication to benefit all learners. This would be a cutting-edge programme that will support those involved in coaching and link with the needs of the industry.
The University regularly 'refreshes' courses to make sure they are as up-to-date as possible. The University calls this process 'academic revalidation'. This course is currently being 'refreshed', with changes being put in place for students entering from September 2018 onwards. For the most up-to-date course module information, please contact the Course Director.
About
The aim of this course is to facilitate the continuing development of sports coaching professionals and to enhance their knowledge and skills appropriate to the management and control of the diverse components within the field of sports coaching, commensurate with the requirements of the profession, their employers, associated professional bodies and community, commercial and industrial interests. The MSc is offered in both full- and part-time modes. Students will complete 180 credit points for the award of MSc, with the option to exit after completing 120 credits for the award of Postgraduate Diploma. Full-Time students will take 60 credits in each of the three semesters, while the part-time students will take 30 credits in each semester of years one and two and 60 credits in year three. There are six taught modules on the course, all of which are compulsory. Three of the programme modules are 30 credits points whilst the Research Project Preparation and Professional Development are 15 credit point modules and the dissertation is 60 credits (the dissertation is not necessary for those who choose to exit with the PgDip). Students wishing to graduate with a PGCert will study 60 credits which is offered in semester 1 of the programme. All modules are compulsory, with students being offered the opportunity to choose what aspect of coaching and specific sport they will write about for their assessments. The Dissertation module also provides students with a choice of topic.
Work placement / study abroad
There are a range of approaches that will be utilised in this programme with regards to work based learning from minimal workplace guidance in some modules to full mentoring support in the Advanced Coaching Process module which entails the academic mentor viewing the student in their coaching environment. The value of this model of work-based learning is that it enables students to receive observational assessment in the workplace. All assessments will be reflective in nature which will ensure the engagement of work based practice.