| Unit name | Practice-based dissertation |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HISTM0106 |
| Credit points | 60 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52) |
| Unit director | Dr. Will Pooley |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
All MA students are expected to undertake either a dissertation or a practice-based dissertation as the culmination of the programme of study. The practice-based dissertation offers similar opportunities to the research dissertation but with a focus on producing a practical output, such as a website, exhibition, podcast, film, or performance.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
Like the dissertation, the practice-based dissertation is the capstone assessment of a History MA. It is your opportunity to apply not just the research, analysis, and writing skills you’ve developed throughout the taught content of your MA, but also the skills in presenting history to wider publics. Like a research dissertation, it is the culmination of your time on the History MA, as you continue to develop the skills of the public historian.
An overview of content
Because the practice-based dissertation is a student-led project, the content of this unit will be driven by each student’s interests, existing expertise, the historical field they wish to tackle, and the audience they are targeting. Students are encouraged to develop material from the taught content of the programme, in order to expand upon topics, research questions, and issues in public history that they have covered in teaching. This is your opportunity to explore, and in doing so, to produce your own original public history project.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
This unit aims to support you in undertaking an original public history project, concerning a topic of your choosing. It will develop your understanding not just of the history involved, but also of the ways in which historians communicate their findings to well-defined audiences. By the end of this unit, you will have transferable skills to do with project design, development, and management. But you will also be a pubic historian in your own right, having added to the collective mission of communicating new ideas to the public.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit students will be able to:
This unit will be taught via regular tutorials with an allocated supervisor. These will vary in length and focus. The dissertation is a student-led, practice-based aspect of the MA History programme. It thus requires students to develop a project idea, carry out independent study, and develop a substantial public-facing output. The supervisor’s role is to offer advice and support in response to student work. Students will also be expected to manage their own schedule and workload, again with the support of a supervisor.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
3000-word draft work for discussion with allocated dissertation supervisor
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Practical output, such as a website, exhibition, podcast, or performance [50%] [ILOs 1-4].
Critical report, 6000-word [50%] [ILOs 1-5].
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. HISTM0106).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
