Education Dissertation EDUC5933

  • Academic Session: 2024-25
  • School: School of Education
  • Credits: 60
  • Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
  • Typically Offered: Runs Throughout Semesters 1 and 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: No
  • Taught Wholly by Distance Learning: Yes
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No

Short Description

Students will complete a guided enquiry project focusing on a specific aspect of education of professional/personal relevance. Students on a named pathway will undertake a Dissertation study relevant to that pathway.

Timetable

This course is taught entirely online with students completing their Dissertation in 6-12 months.

 

Students will be expected to be online at least one every week and to be in contact with Dissertation supervisors at least once each month via email, Skype, 'phone as appropriate.

Requirements of Entry

None

Excluded Courses

None

Co-requisites

None

Assessment

This course is summatively assessed by a written dissertation equivalent to 15,000- 20,000 words in which participants demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of a chosen field of education through research. This provides students with the opportunity to undertake a supervised research exercise on a subject relevant to their professional/personal interests in education. This could include policy analysis, a philosophical study, an analysis of professional experience, a participant observation report, a case study; a critical account of the progressive building up of a curriculum or institution; a macro-study of official statistics. Students on named pathways will undertake a Dissertation study relevant to that pathway.

Course Aims

The aims of the dissertation are:

■ to provide students with experience of planning and conducting an applied research project

■ to familiarise students with the methodological options associated with applied research

■ to provide experience of conducting a review of current research as a component of an applied research project.

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ explain and evaluate informed and considered judgements about the nature and process of their research project

■ critique and evaluate research in the professional field of education that is their focus/context in order to inform their research project

■ construct and conduct a substantial piece of applied research pertaining to education

■ demonstrate their applied research skills, particularly analysis and application within a specific context

■ adopt and demonstrate an ethical approach to the research process and to research materials

■ show rigorous methods of engagement with research material which are adequate to their chosen research approach, methods, topic and context

■ construct a text which conforms to the remit and guidelines for completion of the dissertation.

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.