Postgraduate Course: MSc Dissertation (Informatics) (INFR11077)

Course Outline
School	School of Informatics	College	College of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)	SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)
Course type	Dissertation	Availability	Not available to visiting students
SCQF Credits	60	ECTS Credits	30
Summary	This is a major piece of full-time independent work which occupies the final months of the MSc course. It is intended to allow students to demonstrate their ability to organise and carry out a substantial investigation into a problem in Informatics, according to sound scientific and engineering principles. The project involves both the application of skills learnt in the past and the acquisition of new skills. The types of activity involved in each project will vary but will include most of the following: * Researching the literature and gathering background information. * Analysing requirements, comparing alternatives and specifying a solution. * Analysing and extending relevant theory in novel ways. * Designing and implementing the solution. * Experimenting with and evaluating the solution. * Discussing existing results and presenting new research. * Developing written and oral presentation skills. The project is conducted individually by the student under the supervision of a member of teaching staff. Students are formed into groups for the purpose of a Review Meeting.
Course description	Project dependent

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites		Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	For Informatics PG students only, or by special permission of the School. There is also a possibility of further project dependent pre-requisites.

Course Delivery Information

Academic year 2017/18, Not available to visiting students (SS1)		Quota: None
Course Start	Block 5 (Sem 2) and beyond
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 600 ( Dissertation/Project Supervision Hours 20, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 12, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 568 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	The project is assessed on the basis of a written dissertation which should typically contain: Title page with abstract (a one or two paragraph summary of the contents). Introduction : background, previous work, exposition of relevant literature, setting of the work in the proper context. Description of the work undertaken : this may be divided into chapters describing the conceptual design work and the actual implementation separately. Any problems or difficulties and the suggested solutions should be mentioned. Alternative solutions and their evaluation should also be included. Analysis : results and their critical analysis should be reported, whether the results conform to expectations or otherwise and how they compare with other related work. Conclusion : concluding remarks and observations, unsolved problems, suggestions for further work. Bibliography. Students may be required by their project markers to demonstrate any system that arose from the project.
Feedback	Not entered
No Exam Information

Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to: Structure, summarise and critically evaluate a body of knowledge relating to a substantial project topic in Informatics Conduct a programme of work in further investigation of issues related to the topic Discuss and solve conceptual problems which arise during the investigation Critically evaluate the investigation, including design choices made Present their work orally and visually, with demonstration of working artifacts where appropriate