Module MUSI3041: DISSERTATION

Department: MUSIC

MUSI3041: DISSERTATION

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• Dissertation in other department and Dissertation (40 Credits) (MUSI3332).

Aims

• To enable students in their first year to undertake a substantial study of a topic chosen in consultation with the Chairman/Chairwoman of the Department of Music.
• Students are expected to demonstrate an ability to work independently, to collect and assimilate a body of information, to exercise discrimination in judging what is most relevant and important to their topic, and to convey information and ideas in a coherent and logical manner.
• Importance is attached to students' ability to conceptualize their findings and to relate them to a larger context.

Content

• The student will produce a dissertation of not more than 8,000 words on a subject chosen in consultation with the Chairman or Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in Music.
• Instructions on the presentation of the dissertation will be given by the Department of Music.
• The word-limit is appropriately lower than that for a Double-weighted dissertation.
• The dissertation must be submitted by the first Friday of the Easter Term (teaching week 20).

Learning Outcomes

• In the process of researching and writing their dissertation, students will learn a range of musicological skills.
• Research skills include literature searches (including web-based surveys).
• critical and selective reading.
• planning and organizing ideas on broad scale.
• Presentational skills include competent referencing of sources, and a high level of literacy.
• Scholarly skills include the ability to sustain an argument in the context of a framework of primary and secondary literature, often integrating musico-analytical tools.

• Students will be able to demonstrate and ability to communicate effectively through scholarly discourse, an awareness of the conventions of scholarly presentation and bibliographic skills, and their application, and an ability to engage in rational argument.

• Students will be able to demonstrate an ability to communicate effectively with clarity of written expression, and the appropriate use of specialist vocabulary. They will also be able to demonstrate intellectual curiosity and an ability to work independently.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• One-to-one tutorials will guide students through the secondary literature, and the means to search it.
• At the research stage, tutorials will provide students with the opportunity to discuss their emerging findings.
• In due course, students will be helped with the planning and organization of the dissertation.
• By submitting samples of written work, students will enhance their writing style and presentational skills.
• Personal dialogue with the supervisor will sharpen students' ability for critical debate, independent thinking, and reflective judgement.
• Although developed in the immediate context of their research topic, these abilities constitute highly transferable skills.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Individual comments on materials (text, bibliography, discography etc.) submitted by students for tutorial sessions.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University