• Offered for Year: 2024/25

• Module Leader(s): Dr Jen Kain

• Owning School: History, Classics and Archaeology
• Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus

Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Aims

Students are encouraged to choose their own topic, taking advantage of our very wide variety of research expertise and supervision.

This module aims to provide students with the opportunity to undertake sustained and original investigation of a selected topic including:

1.the identification and definition of the topic and of an appropriate body of primary (but not
necessarily original or unpublished) and secondary sources;
2.the critical and constructive use of those sources;
3.the presentation of the results in scholarly form; and
4.the development of associated skills in research and writing
Students will also:
5. develop project management skills and critically reflect on the relationship between skills development and successful delivery of a research project;
6. reflect on the skills and knowledge acquired during fieldwork/professional placement and the broader degree programme and to understand their relevance for the competitive job market and/or applications to postgraduate study

Outline Of Syllabus

The two weeks of summer fieldwork/professional placement that all archaeology students are expected to have completed by the time they enter Stage 3, with its focus on real-world problem solving and teamwork, as well as subject specific skills, forms the foundation for the professional development and project management that are a key element of the dissertation module. Students will learn to recognise how the skills they have gained through summer fieldwork/professional placement prepare them for future employment, research and project management.
Semester 1 teaching commences with a training course in independent research skills, building on the skills gained in summer fieldwork/placement, which is taken by all students on degree programmes with archaeology in the title undertaking dissertations. Students will develop cognitive, subject-specific and key skills required to produce an independent piece of research.
Assessment of this introductory stage takes the form of a job application that translates skills developed during the summer fieldwork/professional placement and the degree programme more broadly into job criteria set by potential employers or to demonstrate a student’s suitability for Masters level study.
Students will receive guidance in choosing a dissertation topic, its research and writing. They will attend a series of lectures which will include guidance on library resources, archives, and writing. In addition, each student will be allocated a supervisor who will support their individual research and writing of the dissertation. Guidance from supervisors will be delivered through a mixture of one-to-one tutorials and seminars attended by a group of students with the same supervisor. Students will be expected to submit a draft bibliography and a research proposal during semester one, and will receive feedback on these.
Building on the skills acquired in semester 1, students then go on in Semester 2 to complete an independent piece of written research, working under the supervision of a member of staff. In semester two they will submit an extract from the planned dissertation (maximum 25% of the final length), for formative feedback. The outcome will be a Dissertation of 10,000 words, formatted according to module specifications.

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Students will undertake two weeks of summer fieldwork/professional placement. This will (a) enhance their skills in archaeological/heritage practice (b) develop teamwork skill and (c) allow them to observe how research projects are managed. Students are encouraged to choose fieldwork/placement options that tie in with their broader interests in relation to further study or future employment objectives. Workshops in semester 1 will enable them to reflect on the skills they have gained during fieldwork/professional placement, as well as their broader degree programme, and to match their skills and knowledge to project outlines and job applications
Project management skills will be developed with an induction into planning and implementation of a dissertation, including time management. Students take part in a workshop on auditing their existing skills and knowledge and in identifying skills and knowledge they wish to develop further through the research project.


There are a series of lectures in the third year to assist with writing the dissertation itself:

Semester 1: Three Lectures: Introduction by the Module Leader; Primary Source Availability; Special Collections

Semester 2: Four Lectures: Writing Skills 1 ; Careers and New Steps ; Writing Skills 2 ; Preparing to Submit

The academic skills activities impart core information and explain the skills that students are expected to acquire and use.

Dissertation supervision will allow supervisors to provide students with guidance for directed activity – for instance, how to identify appropriate research material, how to analyse it once identified and how to write the conclusions of the research in the form of a dissertation. Dissertation supervision when in the form of small group work will provide opportunities for students to share insights and seek group responses to issues arising from students' independent research, and also promote improvements in oral communication, problem-solving skills and adaptability. Dissertation supervision will also take the form of 1:1 meetings to allow specific discussion and clarification of individual research topic(s).

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Other Assessment

Formative Assessments

Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Students are introduced to the dissertation in semester 2 of their second year, and advised to start thinking about potential topics and supervisors over the summer. At this point they will also research and apply for a place on an archaeological fieldwork project or a heritage/museum-based placement. Students will be guided through this application process by the Fieldwork Convenor. Students will be directed to consider their acquisition of key graduate skills as well as the acquisition of archaeological skills through their fieldwork experience; this includes research skills and also professional project management skills. The assessments for this module will develop and assess students’ project-management, research development skills, and ability to produce a piece of independent extended research under professional supervision.

Formative assessments: The formal submission of a title and nominated supervisor in week 1 means that students register their project with the School and are motivated to prepare for the task ahead. This also enables staff to pick up students who have not yet engaged with the dissertation and who need extra help. The submission of the bibliography helps the supervisor understand progress. The Research Proposal for the dissertation will include theories, methods, research materials and relevant bibliographical material. The submission of draft work constituting 25% of the overall dissertation for comment by the supervisor ensures students have an opportunity to learn from constructive appraisal of key elements of the research.

Summative assessments: (1) the job application assesses the students’ abilities to articulate how their project management experience gained throughout their training at university and particularly during the 4 weeks of their professional experience can be applied to an employment context after graduation. Examples of job descriptions include archaeological site assistant; museum curatorial assistant; research assistant; outreach/educational assistant, and a Masters Archaeology or History programme. (2) The final dissertation (submitted in May) must meet specific criteria, and demonstrate mastery of skills and techniques taught throughout the module. The finished dissertation necessarily incorporates each stage of historical research – conceptualising and defining the problem in the context of current knowledge and historiography, identifying and locating appropriate sources, reading them with the technical competence, critical understanding and insight necessary to establish what can be learned from them, and presenting the results in clear, coherent, cogent and attractive form. It therefore not only has scholarly value in its own right, but provides a comprehensive test and display of the skills, strengths and limitations of its author.

The dissertation of 10,000 words is based on primary and secondary sources, which defines the project clearly, establishes its interest and importance in relation to the current state of knowledge, and provides a well-constructed account based on critical and creative use of the appropriate primary sources, taking account of the relevant secondary literature, and with full scholarly apparatus. It will be written in clear and correct English and carefully presented, and may be illustrated. Work submitted during the delivery of the module forms a means of determining student progress and assuring standards. Submitted work tests intended knowledge and skills outcomes, develops key skills in research, reading and writing. All submitted work tests intended knowledge and skills outcomes and develops key skills in research, reading and writing.

This module cannot be made available to exchange students under any circumstances. This applies to Erasmus, study-abroad, exchange proper and Loyola students equally.

Reading Lists

• HIS3200's Reading List

Timetable

• Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
• HIS3200's Timetable