Program Director Contact Details: Innovation and Entrepreneurship (PG)
Name: Prof Paul Steffens
Email: paul.steffens@adelaide.edu.au

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Teaching Staff: 
Name: Antonio Dottore
Email: antonio.dottore@adelaide.edu.au

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Devise a framework to guide the development of an independent research project in an area of your interest within the field of entrepreneurship
2. Select a relevant research topic, encompassing the question to be addressed, appropriate theories and potential approaches
3. Design a literature search strategy based upon key concepts
4. Apply skills to review, analyse, critique, cite, and reference research literature;
5. Express familiarity with the field of entrepreneurship research including it's history of development, the main knowledge areas and sub-topics and the current debates at the research frontier.

Text book:

Bui, Y. N. (2014). How to write a Master’s Thesis (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California, USE: Sage Publications Inc.

Also available through Google Books eVersion


Journal Articles:
A selection of readings will be assigned on the history of entrepreneurship research, entrepreneurship sub-topics, and current
debates. Completion of all assigned readings is compulsory. See MyUni for details.

Additional Online Resources that may assist

Davidsson, P. (2016) Researching Entrepreneurship: Conceptualization and Design (2 ed.). Springer International Publishing, Switzerland.

Murray, R. (2011). How to write a Thesis, Open University Press, McGraw Hill Education, England.

Whisker, G. (2008), The Postgraduate Research Handbook: Succeed with Your MA, MPhil, EdD and PhD, Palgrave MacMillan, New York, USA.

Evans, D., Gruba, P. & Zobel, J. (2011), How To Write A Better Thesis, Melbourne University Publishing, Australia.

Additional Print Resources
The following authors and texts I have found useful in developing research approaches. While the dates may be a little old in some cases, more up to date editions by these authors are available.

• Creswell, J. W. (1998). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design, Sage Publications, Inc., Thousand Oaks, California.
• Denzin, N. K. & Lincoln, Y. S. (2003). The Landscape of Qualitative Research (2^nd ed.). Sage Publications, California, USA.
• Johnson, R. B. & Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2004). Mixed Methods Research: A Research Paradigm Whose Time Has Come. Educational Researcher, 33(7), 14-26.
• Neuman, W. L. (1994). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (2^nd ed.). Massachusetts, USA: Allyn and Bacon.
• Sharp, J. A. & Howard, K. (1996). The Management of a Student Research Project, England: Gower Publishing Ltd.
• Yin, R. K. (1994). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA.: Sage Publications, Inc.
• Veal, A. J. (2005). Business Research Methods: A Managerial Approach, Australia: Pearson Education Australia.

Online Resources
Online resources will be discussed during the course

Library Resources
The University of Adelaide’s Barr Smith Library provides a range of learning resources including texts, journals, periodicals, magazines, and access to online databases and information services. It also offers a virtual library which is accessible via the University’s website. Access to the Library's electronic resources.

MyUni is the University of Adelaide's online learning environment. It is used to support traditional face-to-face lectures, tutorials and workshops at the University. MyUni provides access to various features including announcements, course materials, discussion boards and assessments for each online course of study.

This course is offered in blended learning mode with the face-to-face component offered as intensives.

As a guide, a 3 unit course comprises a total of 156 hours work (this includes face-to-face contact, any online components, and self directed study).

This is a draft schedule and session dates are a guide only. The timetable may be changed during the course delivery if necessary.

Topic	Content	Activities
1	Introduction and the Research Problem	Draft a research topic and question
2	Reading & Reviewing The Literature	Conduct a literature search on key terms related to your research topic
3	Choosing Interesting Research Topics: Writing an Introduction	Develop the key issues that shape your research topic
4	Literature Analysis & Critique: Writing a Literature Review; History & Future of Entrepreneurship Research	Accelerating Academic Language Development
5	Research Ethics; Formatting and Referencing, Setting up Styles	Correctly cite and reference original works in APA style.
6	Entrepreneurship Research Sub-Topics	Prepare a research synthesis on a key article related to your research topic
7	Making an Impact: Writing a Discussion & Conclusion	Develop the storyline and trace the thread of your Literature Review
8	Current Debates in Entrepreneurship Research	Presentation on individual research topics

An overview of the course assessment appears in the following Table. Details appear in the following section:

#	Assessment	Length	Weighting	Due Date	Learning Outcomes
1	Contribution to Discussion	N/A	10%	Ongoing	2, 3 & 5
2	Literature Analysis	Min 1500 words, but expect ~5 pages	30%	Week 6	3 & 4
3	Research Project Literature Review	Max 5000 words	60%	Week 10	1, 3 & 5
	Total		100%

Students should attend all classes in order to pass the course. There is experiential learning in group activities during the intensive classes that build your knowledge and thus enable you to be successful in this course.

Course results are subject to moderation by the ECIC Board of Examiners.

Assessment 1: Contribution to Discussion
Weighting: 10% (peer assessed)
Task: You are expected to complete all assigned readings, actively contribute to their discussion and debate; as well as initiate and comment upon issues throughout the course.


Assessment 2: Literature Analysis
Weighting: 30%
Task: Prepare an analysis and critique of a current debate in entrepreneurship research. You are assigned a series of journal article reading which discuss the reasons for and merits of using business plans during the start-up process

Please review the articles and discuss the reasons for (and the veracity of) the divergent claims made by these authors regarding the use of business plans. Based on your review and analysis of these articles, you are required to take a position, either for or against the use of business plans in new ventures. Please motivate your response based on the literature and provide support using other scholarly resources. Discuss any limitations of, or conditions for your findings.


Assessment 3: Research Project Literature Review
Weighting: 60%
Task: Prepare a research topic literature review in two parts. The first part develops the rationale for your future research project and research question framing its relevance and importance to particular stakeholders. The second part details the basis of academic literature that grounds your research question in theory. All reference material must be correctly cited and referenced in APA style.

The Research Project Literature Review will include the project’s aims and rationale and provide a literature review.

Scope: This assessment item is designed to be a major contribution to your Master’s Research Project and as such should be scoped to provide an appropriate platform to anchor discussions with your supervisors. It is also likely that as the Research develops there will be later modifications to the work presented at this time.

All text based assignments must be submitted via MyUni.
Please refer to step by step instructions: MyUni Learning Centre

There are a few points to note about the submission of assignments:

• Assignment Submission:  Assignments should not be emailed to the instructor; they must be lodged via the MyUni Course site (unless specified to do both). Note that assignments may be processed via TURNITIN, which is an online plagiarism prevention tool.
• Cover Sheet:  Please include in the assignment a completed University of Adelaide Assessment Cover Sheet providing details of yourself and your team members (if applicable), your assignment, the course, date submitted, etc. as well as the declaration signed by you that this is your (your team’s) work.  Note that the declaration on any electronically submitted assignment will be deemed to have the same authority as a signed declaration.
• Backup Copy of Assignments:  You are advised to keep a copy of your assignments in case the submitted copy goes missing.  Please ensure that all assignment pages are numbered. If your assignment contains confidential information, you should discuss any concerns with the Course Lecturer prior to submission.
• Extensions of Time:  An application for Assessment Extension should be made well before the due date of the assignment to the Course Lecturer.  Normally, extensions will only be granted for a maximum of two weeks from the original assignment submission date.  Extensions will only be granted in cases of genuine medical, compassionate or extenuating circumstances.
• Failure to submit: Failure to submit an assignment on time or by the agreed extension deadline may result in penalties and may incur a fail grade.  Note that a late penalty of 5% of the total available marks for that assessment item will be incurred each day an assignment is handed in late (Unless otherwise stated in 'Assessment Related Requirements' or 'Assessment Detail' above). Assignments handed in after 14 days from the due submission date will fail even if a 100% mark is granted for the work.

Resubmission & Remarking
Resubmission of an assignment for remarking after reworking it to obtain a better mark will not normally be accepted.  Approval for resubmission will only be granted on medical or compassionate grounds.