Course Options:

The aim of the dissertation is to provide an opportunity for students to pursue an in-depth study of their own choice, with limited supervision, to develop and demonstrate their academic skills and abilities at honours level. All students will undertake a major study on an individual basis and submit a dissertation based upon this during the year. The dissertation will normally be either an empirical investigation or one based on secondary sources. The dissertation is an important and integral part of the honours element of the degree and will enable students to demonstrate the application of those analytical, investigative and evaluative skills developed during earlier and/or current components of the course. The dissertation will allow students to pursue issues in depth and undertake their own research with limited supervision. The topic chosen will normally be based upon on one of the major areas of study within the degree structure or will integrate two or more of these areas. Standard dissertations will be approximately 10,000 words in length.

The module Research Studies will provide an opportunity for the student to explore a range of concepts, issues, perspectives, and techniques underlying the management of research methodologies in sports coaching, including a range of statistical techniques which can be utilised in the analysis of data. Coaches will increasingly need to have an informed knowledge and understanding of research methodologies and techniques if they are to be effective. The UK sport and leisure industry is maturing rapidly and will need to respond to the demands for a better trained and effective work-force in terms of their analytical, managerial and administrative skills. Research and statistical methods will include the nature and characteristics of research, the research process and methodological choices, experimental and survey research design, data collection methods, presenting findings.

The module Project Development in Sports Coaching provides students with the opportunity to utilize an appropriate work environment of their own choice in order to develop the relevant practical and technical skills within their chosen field of sports coaching. Awareness of the wider issues affecting the industry sector will be developed through supporting theory lectures and seminars. The module is fundamental to the ethos of vocational degrees in providing engagement in a work environment and will serve to provide the learner with research and industry based skills that can be transferred to future employment .Students will be encouraged to record and reflect on their own personal development during the module.

The module Contemporary Issues in Sports Coaching develops a student's critical awareness of the UK coaching context and contemporary issues associated with coaching and coach development. The module will offer exploration of topics and themes that have received limited attention but have been long-standing social concerns within sport. Module content will reflect the on-going trends and initiatives in coaching and provide the students with valuable and up-to-date knowledge of these contemporary issues.

The module Coaching & Training Specialist Populations will give students an understanding of the role of sports coaching in order to improve the health, fitness, function and quality of life in specialist populations. Recognition of the importance of physical activity is growing within our society. People are increasingly aware of the need to include exercise and other health related behaviours within their daily lives. Therefore exercise and health professionals need to be equipped to effectively programme physical activity into the lives of the whole population. This module will give learners the knowledge and skills to be able to develop and coach health-related physical activity programmes within wide ranging population groups. The function of physical activity will be considered as both a preventative modality and a treatment regime in a wide variety of diseases including coronary heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and asthma. Additionally, health-related fitness programming will be considered for 'non-diseased' populations with special considerations such as pregnant women, the disabled and children