Module Descriptors
HISTORICAL STUDIES DISSERTATION PREPARATION MODULE
XXXX56926
Key Facts
Faculty of Arts and Creative Technologies
Level 5
10 credits
Hours of Study
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities: 12
Independent Study Hours: 68
Total Learning Hours: 80
Assessment
- PROJECT PROPOSAL weighted at 100%
Module Details
Module Indicative Content
If you are intending to write a dissertation in History you are required successfully to complete this module which prepares you for the 8,000-10,000 word dissertation in Level 3. The programme is intended to introduce you to the necessary empirical/source-based, historiographical, analytical, research, library, bibliographic, stylistic and presentational skills necessary to produce a dissertation plan. There will be opportunities to address 'What is History?'; 'How Do I Choose a Topic?'; 'How Do I Do Research?'; Essay and Writing Skills; and work privately on the Dissertation Preparation Plan and work with your Supervisor who will assist you in the preparation of the DPP.
Module Assessment
A PROJECT PROPOSAL weighted at 100%. @ 2000-2500 WORDS
Module Texts
Ralph Berry, The Research Project (Third Edn. Routledge, New York & London, 1994)
Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Chicago, University of Chicago, 1987 [Fifth Edn.]).
Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Chicago, University of Chicago, 1987 [Fifth Edn.]).
Module Resources
Recommended library books and journals.
Use of Inter-library loans system.
Familiarisation with the Level 3 Dissertation Booklet.
Use of Inter-library loans system.
Familiarisation with the Level 3 Dissertation Booklet.
Module Learning Strategies
This module is taught for six weeks by academic and library staff and comprises lectures and seminars plus regular tutorials from Week 7 with your supervisor. (12 contact and 68 independent learning hours)
Module Learning Outcome
Academic General learning Outcomes:
In this module you will be schooled in the necessary stylistic, presentational, historiographical, colligatory, research and bibliographical skills demanded by the much larger dissertation project, but which must first be displayed in the DPP.
Module-Specific Learning Outcomes:
The dissertation is the final test of the academic and transferable skills you have mastered whilst studying History. Not only are you expected to display these skills in your dissertation, however, the job of acquiring them begins with your DPP. An appropriate member of staff will supervise and then also mark your DPP. The DPP and dissertation do not have to be concerned with the same topic, but you are strongly advised to discuss the benefits of developing the DPP into a dissertation with your supervisor.
It may be helpful to remind you of the academic and transferable skills we have in mind. Most aspects of the discipline were introduced to you at Level 1 and this module is an important next step toward their further implementation and demonstration.
1) Implement a research plan and present a coherent report of your findings in a clear and concise manner in the
form of the DPP.
2) Demonstrate that you understand the interaction of key concepts such as class, race and gender.
3) Demonstrate you are aware of the relationship between theoretical and empirical-analytical modes of explanation.
4) Use articles in specialist journals and incorporate them into your reading and research plan.
5) Understand how historians engage in historical debates.
6) Set yourself academic problems and attempt to resolve them.
Transferable Skills:
1) Take increasing responsibility for your own learning.
2) Deploy educational technologies with increasing facility.
3) Manage and synthesise large amounts of information.
In this module you will be schooled in the necessary stylistic, presentational, historiographical, colligatory, research and bibliographical skills demanded by the much larger dissertation project, but which must first be displayed in the DPP.
Module-Specific Learning Outcomes:
The dissertation is the final test of the academic and transferable skills you have mastered whilst studying History. Not only are you expected to display these skills in your dissertation, however, the job of acquiring them begins with your DPP. An appropriate member of staff will supervise and then also mark your DPP. The DPP and dissertation do not have to be concerned with the same topic, but you are strongly advised to discuss the benefits of developing the DPP into a dissertation with your supervisor.
It may be helpful to remind you of the academic and transferable skills we have in mind. Most aspects of the discipline were introduced to you at Level 1 and this module is an important next step toward their further implementation and demonstration.
1) Implement a research plan and present a coherent report of your findings in a clear and concise manner in the
form of the DPP.
2) Demonstrate that you understand the interaction of key concepts such as class, race and gender.
3) Demonstrate you are aware of the relationship between theoretical and empirical-analytical modes of explanation.
4) Use articles in specialist journals and incorporate them into your reading and research plan.
5) Understand how historians engage in historical debates.
6) Set yourself academic problems and attempt to resolve them.
Transferable Skills:
1) Take increasing responsibility for your own learning.
2) Deploy educational technologies with increasing facility.
3) Manage and synthesise large amounts of information.
Module Additional Assessment Details
The preparation of the Dissertation Presentation Project will assess your ability to coherently plan for and evaluate the needs of a dissertation topic.