Postgraduate Course: Dissertation, Taught MSc in History (PGHC11313)

Course Outline
School	School of History, Classics and Archaeology	College	College of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)	SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)
Course type	Dissertation	Availability	Available to all students
SCQF Credits	60	ECTS Credits	30
Summary	Students will initially complete a dissertation proposal, which contributes 10% to the final mark, and write a dissertation of 15,000 words on a subject agreed with their supervisor. The dissertation is an extended piece of scholarship in which a student is expected to formulate and sustain an argument and to engage critically and analytically with the literature in the field, building upon relevant concepts covered in the taught element of the degree and deploying a range of primary and secondary sources. Each student will be allocated two supervisors from the start of the academic year.
Course description	Not entered

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites		Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	None

Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites	None
High Demand Course?	Yes

Course Delivery Information

Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1)		Quota: None
Course Start	Block 5 (Sem 2) and beyond
Course Start Date	25/09/2017
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 600 ( Dissertation/Project Supervision Hours 9, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 12, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 579 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	Students will initially complete a dissertation proposal which contributes 10% to the final mark, and a dissertation which is 15000 words in length. This will be assessed by two internal examiners and an external examiner.
Feedback	Not entered
No Exam Information

Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1)		Quota: None
Course Start	Full Year
Course Start Date	18/09/2017
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 600 ( Dissertation/Project Supervision Hours 9, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 12, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 579 )
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	Students will initially complete a dissertation proposal which contributes 10% to the final mark, and a dissertation which is 15000 words in length. This will be assessed by two internal examiners and an external examiner.
Feedback	Not entered
No Exam Information

Learning Outcomes
The Dissertation for the taught MSc in History provides students with the ability: - To formulate and implement a plan of research. - To formulate hypotheses relating to the student's research subject and to test them by marshalling a range of primary and secondary evidence. - To locate a specific thesis within its broader historiography. - To reflect critically on the processes and methods involved in research and writing. - To construct and pursue a coherent historical argument based on the hypotheses which have been formulated and tested by reference to primary and secondary source material. - To locate an argument - whether verbal or written - within a broader intellectual context and to evaluate its implications from that more general perspective. - To conceive and pursue to its conclusion a coherent argument founded on evidence provided by the sources at the student's disposal. - To undertake a sustained independent research project, and to complete it within a strict time limit. - To write clear, accurate, precise and concise prose.