ECON 7234B - Economics Dissertation Part 2

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2020

Each student is to undertake an individual research project that exhibits original investigation, analysis and interpretation which will be written up as a dissertation under the guidance of an academic supervisor. Students need to consult the Academic Program coordinator before the semester to discuss suitable topics and potential supervisors. This will be written up as a dissertation. The length of the dissertation will be determined in conjunction with the candidate's Supervisor and the Academic Program Coordinator. This dissertation is to be undertaken part time over the final two semesters of the Masters program and students can only enrol in this course with the approval of the Course Co-ordinator. The student enrolling in this must have completed all coursework required of the program for approval to be granted. A decision regarding whether a student may choose the option of doing a dissertation will be based mainly on the academic results of the first two semesters. A Distinction average is required. Students interested in undertaking the dissertation must first consult with the Academic Program Coordinator during the second semester of the program.

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Course Details

Course Code	ECON 7234B
Course	Economics Dissertation Part 2
Coordinating Unit	Economics
Term	Semester 1
Level	Postgraduate Coursework
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	12
Contact	By supervision
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	Y
Restrictions	Economics PGCW Masters students only
Assessment	Thesis - approximately 8000 to 12000 words

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Associate Professor Virginie Masson

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Course Learning Outcomes

The purpose of the dissertation is to encourage students to undertake independent economic research and to foster research-related skills, which should benefit future study and employment.

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

Demonstrate specialist knowledge in the area of their research.
Demonstrate the ability to initiate research and to formulate viable research questions.
Demonstrate the capacity to design, conduct and report sustained and original research.
Demonstrate the ability to evaluate and synthesize research-based and scholarly literature.
Present research findings and argument in a suitably structured and sequenced thesis that conforms to protocols of academic presentation and research practice.
Demonstrate the ability to critique literature and conduct analyses at a Masters level.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Deep discipline knowledge informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1 accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)	1,4
Critical thinking and problem solving steeped in research methods and rigor based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment	2,3,4
Teamwork and communication skills developed from, with, and via the SGDE honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning	5,6
Career and leadership readiness technology savvy professional and, where relevant, fully accredited forward thinking and well informed tested and validated by work based experiences	3,5

Learning Resources

Recommended Resources

A bibliography must be included. Since different journals use different methods, it is necessary to choose one method and stick to it consistently. For some guidance concerning bibliographical methods, consult one or more of the references listed in the Barr Smith Library subject catalogue under the heading "Dissertation, Academic"; for example, Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Dissertations.

Students are recommended to consult the Writing Centre at the University for writing and language questions.
Learning & Teaching Activities
Learning & Teaching Modes

Unlike standard coursework, research is a relatively unstructured activity. Student must self pace and self monitor their own progress. One to one guidance is provided in supervision sessions. Regularity of supervision will be set in accordance with their supervisor. A regular schedule would be one meeting monthly.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

The University expects full-time students (i.e. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. This course is part of a two-course sequence with 12 units, so represents 6 units.

Learning Activities Summary
This continues the research process from part 1 of the sequence:
1. Students are expected to submit written drafts of each section to the supervisor. The supervisor is then expected to provide a constructive and critical assessment of the work submitted and make a note of the comments given.
2. For each section of the dissertation, the supervisor is expected to read and comment on the section once. The student is then expected to revise the individual sections, and submit them combined as the final version to the supervisor.
3. Upon receiving the final version of the dissertation, assessing the content, and deciding upon the mark, the supervisor is expected to provide direct feedback on the student’s work – including the strengths and weaknesses of the dissertation.
4. Throughout the semester students are strongly expected to attend the Monday's Thesis Workshops and the Friday's Seminar.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment Task	Due Date/ Week	Weight	Length	Learning Outcomes
Final Dissertation - Research Project of Thesis	Week 12	100%	8,000 - 12,000 words	1-6

Assessment Detail

The standard of English expression is expected to be high. Students may wish to consult references listed in the subject catalogue of the Barr Smith Library under the heading "Style, Literary". While supervisors will offer reasonable assistance, the writing of a dissertation is the student’s task and students must not expect the supervisor to convert careless or poor prose into good English.

Submission

The to be agreed upon length of the dissertation is expected to be approximately 9,000 words and must be more than 8000 but not exceed 12,000 words including footnotes and references but not the title page and abstract.

There should be a title page showing:

the title in full
the full name and degrees of the candidate
the School in which the candidate submitted the work
the degree for which the dissertation is submitted
the date of submission
the declaration.

The declaration includes the signature and date and the following prargraph. "Except where appropriately acknowledged this thesis is my own work, has been expressed in my own words and has not previously been submitted for assessment."

There should be a brief (less than 1 page) abstract preceding the text of the dissertation. This should indicate the aims, scope and conclusions of the dissertation, as well as the word count.

The dissertation must also include a bibliography. See under Recommended Resources above.

The thesis must be submitted no later than the first Friday after Week 12 to the student’s supervisor. Students must submit two copies of the thesis.

The supervisor and the second reader will mark the work independent from each other. The total mark is the average of the two marks. If the two marks differ by more than one grade, the course coordinator will reconcile the marks with the help of a third reader.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator