1. Integrate elements of your prior military training into analytical research with subject knowledge gained on the programme to produce a concise and in-depth academic dissertation.
2. ¿Demonstrate further enhancement of your skills of research and analysis, gained through your prior training, using primary and peer-reviewed academic sources.
3. Apply your existing knowledge of methodological issues to the academic context.
4. Demonstrate that you can apply your pre-existing communicative skills to academic work, utilising standard notational and referencing conventions.

The dissertation module is designed to enable you to demonstrate your ability to research, to structure and write an in-depth piece of work using appropriate methods and communicative skills. Learning outcomes 1-4.

The dissertation module provides an exciting opportunity for senior officers to pull together all the skills and knowledge they have learned both during their military career and on the MA course, and to undertake an in-depth study on a topic of their choice (within the parameters of the course subject-matter). Students will be helped to choose an appropriate research question and to design their project via a series of tasks on Blackboard. Later, a supervisor will support them in successfully completing the dissertation. The word length is 10,000 words.

The dissertation module provides an exciting opportunity for you to undertake an in-depth study on a topic that you choose for yourself. You will be helped to develop your topic via a series of tasks on Blackboard, and later your
dissertation supervisor will support you in successfully completing the dissertation. You have two whole semesters in which to complete the dissertation. The word length is 10,000 words.

The main focus will be on self-instruction, within a tightly structured framework and relying on materials that you source for yourself. Week by week, students will work through self-instructional course material (delivered via Blackboard), which provides the framework and focus for reading key texts and papers and undertaking the specific tasks set. This work will be undertaken on an individual basis, but students will be expected to interact and share material and ideas with other students in their learning group and their tutor. The teaching component of the module will run over 6 weeks. After you have worked through the tasks on Blackboard, you will be allocated to a dissertation supervisor who will work with you to develop first your research proposal and then your dissertation. The huge advantage of this module is that you will discuss the ideas for your dissertation with other students studying a range of different topics and also from the perspective of different cognate disciplines, meaning you will expand your analytical frames of understanding, your methodologies, as well as your knowledge.

These will depend on the chosen subject.

Computer and Internet access to enable use of Blackboard and all electronic resources, including the electronic reading list and e-journals in the University library.