糖心探花

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GV3DSA - Dissertation (Study Abroad Students)

糖心探花

GV3DSA-Dissertation (Study Abroad Students)

Module Provider: Geography and Environmental Science
Number of credits: 40 [20 ECTS credits]
Level:6
Terms in which taught: Summer / Autumn / Spring module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2021/2

Module Convenor: Dr Filippo Menga
Email: f.menga@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

This module allows students to opt to spend one of their third year terms (Autumn or Spring) at one of our Erasmus partner institutions in Europe or through the University-wide links in North America and Australia. Currently, the Department has established links with: The Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen (The Netherlands); The University Centre on Svalbard (UNIS) and The Department of Geography, University of Bergen (Norway). For those students studying abroad in Europe, funding is contributed by the ERASMUS+ Exchange Scheme. Each study abroad student takes modules equivalent to 40 credits, which are substituted for course credits in 糖心探花.


Aims:
The dissertation module aims to give students the experience of carrying out an original research project where they can put into practice the skills of information collection, analysis, and presentation gained during their degree programme. It also provides an opportunity to demonstrate that they can select a methodology appropriate to their investigation and outline and discuss its philosophical basis.

Assessable learning outcomes:
On completion of this module it is expected that a student will be able to: * Independently plan and carry out a research project * Locate and critically evaluate literature relevant to an empirical research project * Collect, analyse and draw conclusions from empirical evidence, using appropriate research methodologies * Assess the limitations of the research undertaken * Produce a well-presented, clearly argued written report of their research and conclusions.

Additional outcomes:
The module also aims to develop further, students' oral communication skills through seminars and meetings, singly and in groups, with members of academic staff. Depending on topic and methodology, students will gain additional practice in (among other things) using equipment, carrying out field or laboratory experiments, interviewing or qualitative field techniques, skills in statistical analysis and computer modelling.

Outline content:
Students have a free choice of dissertation topic, which they choose and refine in consultation with a dissertation tutor.

This module is specifically for students who undertake Study Abroad Placements (e.g. ERASMUS) during the Autumn or Spring Term of Part 3. As such, the timescale below may be adapted to reflect the individual circumstances of a student on Study Abroad Placement, to ensure they are not disadvantaged in the completion of their dissertation.

Students n ormally submit a provisional topic in Term 5 and dissertation tutors are assigned on the basis of the submitted topic. Students normally meet with their dissertation tutors in groups and as individuals at the end of Term 5 and in Term 6, after Part 2 examinations. For Study Abroad students, this meeting may be via Skype. Dissertation tutors advise on academic literature, data sources, and research methods. 糖心探花 requirements depend on the dissertation topics, however, the students should aim t o include about not less than 10 peer reviewed research papers or monographs into the literature review. The Internet is an important source of data including statistical data and the latest governmental, inter-governmental, and business documents. However, material from web sources is not considered an acceptable substitute for the published literature and the use of web material instead of peer reviewed papers and books for referencing does not fall within standards considered to be sufficient ly academic and is, therefore, strongly discouraged. Research and writing-up extend to the end of Term 8. The students meet individually with their dissertation tutors in Terms 7 and 8 at regular intervals to review progress and discuss the organisation of the dissertation. Where this is not possible, because a Study Abroad student is away from 糖心探花 on Placement, such meetings may take place via Skype. Students are normally expected to spend a minimum of 100 hours on data collection and analy sis, and the data presented in the dissertation should be commensurate with at least this level of eff