Postgraduate Course: Dissertation (Design Cultures) (20 credits) (DESI11074)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course will support you to undertake an independent practice-based dissertation. You will be 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 so far and how it can be situated within broader design cultures and their contexts. |
| Course description |
This course aims to:
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 field of practice.
Support you to advance your skills of critical analysis and evaluation so as to enable you to investigate how your own 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 |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Evidence through rigorous research a critical awareness of relevant ideas, theories, and practices at the forefront of your discipline and which underpin and sustain your own practice.
- Apply critical analysis to your own practice evaluating how it is informed by and engages with developments at the forefront of your discipline and how it is situated within broader design cultures and their contexts.
- Demonstrate the ability to manage, structure and communicate a significant independent research project in a synthesized and scholarly manner.
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Learning Resources
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. For students taking the Dissertation course this can be understood in terms of the following:
To be able to plan and undertake research on the basis of rigorous and independent thought, taking into account ethical and professional issues.
To be able to identify, define and analyse problems and where relevant come to creative solutions.
To search for, evaluate and use information to develop your knowledge and understanding.
To be an independent learner who takes responsibility for your own learning, and are committed to continuous reflection, self-evaluation and self-improvement.
To have the confidence to make decisions based on your understandings and demonstrate intellectual autonomy.
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. For students taking the Dissertation course this can be understood in terms of the following:
- 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
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. For students taking the Dissertation course this can be understood in terms of the following:
- 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. For students taking the Dissertation course this can be understood in terms of the following:
- have the confidence to make decisions based on their understandings and their intellectual autonomy
- be able to create and harness opportunities
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| Additional Class Delivery Information |
The Dissertation course is delivered through a mixture of lectures, small group tutorials and individual tutorials. Students are expected to prepare work for each contact point, with instructions relating to this listed on the course LEARN pages. Students are expected to actively engage in tutorials, which also provide an opportunity for peer learning and feedback. |
| Keywords | Design,research,context,culture,writing,dissertation,practice-based |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Agnese Sile
Tel: (0131 6)51 5800
Email: |
Course secretary | Ms Jane Thomson
Tel: (0131 6)51 5713
Email: |
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