PSY8037 : Dissertation
- Offered for Year: 2025/26
- Module Leader(s): Dr Gavin Clark
- Owning School: Psychology
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 2 Credit Value: | 10 |
| Semester 3 Credit Value: | 50 |
| ECTS Credits: | 30.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
The aims of this module are to:
1. Enable students to become confident in their ability to carry out and manage an independent piece of meaningful research
2. Provide a sound basis for future professional research requirements
3. Enable students to interact with professional academic, health, forensic and clinical psychologists and related professionals in a way which will enhance their job prospects and future careers
4. Facilitate the development of a range of skills which will make them more attractive to future employers, including professional training courses and higher degree courses
Outline Of Syllabus
The Syllabus is dependent upon the individual student’s dissertation topic.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 1 | 1:00 | 1:00 | Synchronous online question & answer seminar regarding project supervision & related requirements. |
| Guided Independent Study | Project work | 1 | 574:00 | 574:00 | Students will be carrying out independent research |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Dissertation/project related supervision | 20 | 1:00 | 20:00 | Supervisors will meet with students. This will be undertaken either via PIP or synchronous sessions |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Module talk | 1 | 1:00 | 1:00 | Non-Sync session providing intro to dissertation & overview of the module & project requirements. |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Module talk | 4 | 1:00 | 4:00 | Live PIP sessions where students will be able to ask questions about the dissertation throughout the year. |
| Total | 600:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
The students will further develop a range of skills and will be trained to engage in research and to produce an appropriate output. Students will be fully engaged in the project selection and development through a dialogue with their project supervisors. They will gain hands-on experience of a range of techniques used in psychological research (appropriate to their own project) and will be required to produce a written dissertation. This module will involve a significant amount of private study, including research-based fieldwork and practical experience of a range of clinical research techniques. The amount of hours spent on data gathering and private study will vary with the individual project but should be approximately as stated above.
Meetings with project supervisors may take place in person, may take place entirely remotely or through a combination of in person and remote meetings.
Students are afforded multiple opportunities for formative feedback during the course of planning and carrying out their dissertation, which will primarily be delivered through feedback from their supervisor(s). Firstly, students will develop a non-graded research proposal which outlines the rationale for their proposed study, planned research questions, methods and approach to analysis. Students will receive comments on their proposal, which will include comments on various aspects of their writing and the conceptual underpinnings of their project and proposed methodology. Students will also be given the opportunity to receive comments on a single draft of their dissertation introduction, methods and results section from their dissertation supervisor, on a date agreed by student and supervisor. In addition to this, students will receive peer feedback on the developing rationale for their dissertation project within small-group problem based learning tasks in workshops as well as on their critique of example dissertation proposals and write-ups within scheduled workshops. Students will also be able to seek informal formative feedback on their understanding of the project and planned methods through regular research supervision throughout Semester 2 and 3. Cumulatively, students will receive iterative feedback on their developing project, throughout the year, which will allow them to hone their approach to the final submitted thesis.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dissertation | 3 | M | 100 | A research report of up to 10,000 words excluding bibliography |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The dissertation is intended to test the ability of students to conduct a substantial independent project of postgraduate research in an area of interest to them. It allows them to demonstrate their skills in planning and organising their work, discovering and evaluating relevant materials, seeking out an appropriate methodology, considering ethical issues, collecting data rigorously and effectively and presenting their findings in a structured and analytical manner within the written dissertation. It also allows them to demonstrate that they have acquired specialised knowledge in their area of research.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- PSY8037's Timetable