PSY8037 : Dissertation
- Offered for Year: 2024/25
- 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 short dissertation. Students will also prepare a poster at the end of the research project. 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.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poster | 3 | M | 20 | A scientific poster summarising the research study |
| Dissertation | 3 | M | 80 | 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. The poster assessment will help them to learn how to present information in a succinct and communicative way.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- PSY8037's Timetable