Postgraduate Course: Dissertation (Design Cultures) (40 credits) (DESI11075)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Dissertation |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 40 |
ECTS Credits | 20 |
| Summary | This course will support you to undertake a significant independent practice-based dissertation. You are expected to develop informed, innovative, and purposive research that identifies key ideas, theories, and practices at the forefront of your discipline and to use these to inform and critically evaluate your own practice in a fully contextualised way. The dissertation should demonstrate an integrated approach to research and practice and should coherently communicate the rationale behind the work developed during your taught postgraduate studies and how it can be situated in broader design cultures and their contexts in a manner consistent with academic standards and conventions. |
| Course description |
This course aims to:
- Support you to undertake a significant independent practice-based research project.
- Support you to develop a reflexive approach to your practice.
- Enable you to develop rigorous and integrated research skills through the identification of key themes, theories and methods pertinent to your practice.
- Support you to advance your skills of critical analysis and evaluation to enable you to investigate how your work can be situated in broader design cultures and their contexts.
- Develop your skills in communicating your research and practice in an informed and authoritative manner.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
400
(
Lecture Hours 5,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 3,
Formative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 8,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
382 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
100% coursework - 10,000-word dissertation. All three learning outcomes are equally weighted |
| Feedback |
Feedforward will be regularly communicated through the course in the form of group and individual tutorials. There will also be three formative assessment points, each designed to support the final summative submission. These are: two oral presentations, the first presenting the research proposal, objectives and plan, and the second presenting key findings and the proposed dissertation structure; and one written submission of draft sections. Oral feedback will be provided for each of the presentations and written feedback with indicative grades for the written draft submission. Students are required to reflect upon their feedback and submit a short paragraph along with a list of intended action points. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Evidence through rigorous research and selection of appropriate techniques of enquiry a critical understanding of relevant ideas, theories, and practices at the forefront of your discipline and which underpin and sustain your own practice.
- Critically analyse your own practice evaluating how it engages with developments at the forefront of your discipline and how it is situated within broader design cultures and their contexts so as to come to creative responses to problems and issues.
- Demonstrate the ability to manage, structure and communicate complex ideas and findings in a synthesized and extended scholarly manner.
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Reading List
Clarke, M. (2007) Verbalising the Visual: Translating Art and Design into Words. Lausanne; Worthing: AVA Academia.
Cross, N. (2006) Designerly Ways of Knowing. London: Springer.
Crouch, C. and Pearce, J. (2012) Doing Research in Design. London: Berg Publishers.
Lees-Mafei, G. (2011) Writing Design: Words and Objects. London: Berg Publishers.
Madsen, D. (1992) Successful dissertations and theses: a guide to graduate student research from proposal to completion. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Smith, H and Roger Dean (eds.). (2009) Practice-led research, research-led practice in the creative arts. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research and Enquiry
Graduates of the University will be able to create new knowledge and opportunities for learning through the process of research and enquiry. Graduates of this course will be able to demonstrate their ability to:
- be able to identify, define and analyse problems and identify or create processes to solve them
- search for, evaluate and use information to develop their knowledge and understanding
- recognise the importance of reflecting on their learning experiences and be aware of their own learning style
- have an informed respect for the principles, methods, standards, values and boundaries of their discipline(s) and the capacity to question these.
Personal and Intellectual Autonomy
Graduates of the University will be able to work independently and sustainably, in a way that is informed by openness, curiosity and a desire to meet new challenges. Graduates of this course will be able to demonstrate their ability to:
- be creative and imaginative thinkers
- be independent learners who take responsibility for their own learning, and are committed to continuous reflection, self-evaluation and self-improvement
- be intellectually curious and able to sustain intellectual interest
Communication
Graduates of the University will recognise and value communication as the tool for negotiating and creating new understanding, collaborating with others, and furthering their own learning. Graduates of this course will be able to demonstrate their ability to:
- further their own learning through effective use of the full range of communication approaches
Personal Effectiveness
Graduates of the University will be able to effect change and be responsive to the situations and environments in which they operate. Graduates of this course will be able to demonstrate their ability to:
- have the confidence to make decisions based on their understandings and their personal and intellectual autonomy
- be able to create and harness opportunities |
| Keywords | research,context,culture,writing,dissertation,design,practice-based |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Ms Emma Gieben-Gamal
Tel: (0131 6)51 5721
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Emma Binks
Tel: (0131 6)51 5740
Email: |
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