Programme overview
Please note: This programme does not lead directly to professional registration. It’s designed primarily for qualified and registered professionals who are currently working in the sector in various disciplines, including social work, counselling, community development, and other allied fields.
This programme provides a professional development opportunity for you to update and extend existing skills and knowledge in your current workplace. You’ll identify existing issues related to your sector, and learn research methods that can be applied in real-world settings through reflective practice and academic study.
You’ll be able to remain professionally current by critically engaging with research practice through Te Tiriti o Waitangi and indigenous approaches. These foci will ensure that you can confidently pursue culturally responsive applied research.
Upon completion, you’ll be able to add value to your organisation by employing advanced applied research skills, and the qualification will also enable you to demonstrate this ability to employers and other industry stakeholders.
- Advance your practice and contribute to your profession by learning how to conduct work-relevant research and projects;
- Ideal for those with practice-based skills who want to develop their personal and professional development competencies or learn how to validate their practice skills and ideas through research;
- Engage in contextualised self-reflection;
- Analyse relevant social policies and social discourses to create opportunity and empower individuals, groups and communities;
- Improve communication across disciplines and cultures within changing environments;
- Taught by highly experienced lecturers with roles in community and national organisations;
- Flexibility: choose full- or part-time study to fit in with your professional practice.
Once you’ve successfully completed this programme you’ll receive the qualification of a Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Practice and If you’d like to continue studying, you can progress to the Master of Applied Practice (Social Practice). Progressing students can transfer their credits, so the Masters will only be an additional 1 year (full-time) or 2 years (part-time).
The key difference between this programme and the Masters is that this programme teaches you how to conduct applied research in your industry, whereas the Masters gives you the opportunity to actually conduct this research as part of your studies.
Admission requirements
What you will need to study this programme.
Domestic students
Academic requirements
You must have completed at least one of the following:
- A Bachelor's degree or Level 7 Graduate Diploma in the same or similar discipline;
- Provide documentary evidence of outcomes in the social work, community development, or counselling work environment to demonstrate an ability to perform in the programme and commit to achieving its outcomes;
- University Entrance Literacy: 8 credits at Level 2 or above in English or Māori (4 in Reading, 4 in Writing); or
- Evidence of English language proficiency as outlined in the NZQA Rules on the Unitec English Language Requirements for International Students Web-page.
Non-Academic requirements
- A phone or face-to-face interview may be required as part of the application process.
Don’t meet these Academic requirements?
- If you don’t meet the academic criteria, our Bridging Education Programmes can help you qualify. Simply apply online, and we’ll discuss your next steps.
- If you don’t meet the above criteria, special or discretionary admission may apply; your eligibility will be determined at the interview.
For more information, download the programme regulations (PDF 449 KB)
Courses and timetables
For more details on the courses including timetables, please click on the course names below.
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| Courses | Credits | Aim |
|---|---|---|
| Applying Research to Practice(CISC8000) | 15.0 credits (0.125 EFTS) | To enable students to critically examine and contextualise practice and develop a critical understanding of how indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness, society, ethics, environment and law inform practice. |
| Community Informed Applied Research(CISC8001) | 15.0 credits (0.125 EFTS) | To develop the student to be able to critically examine and evaluate a body of literature in relation to a practice/work-based issue to arrive at a relevant and informed research question(s) and to contextualise and understand the relevance of this question to practice and the wider community |
| Applied Research Proposal(CISC8002) | 15.0 credits (0.125 EFTS) | Enable a student to engage industry and community relevant to discipline and then begin to create feasible and well-defined research questions as well as determine the most appropriate research method or range of methods to address these research questions. |
