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General Third Year Dissertation

Module description

This dissertation module offers you an opportunity to undertake independent research into primary material on a topic of your choice.  You will work under one-to-one supervision to write an extensive piece of independent research. You will be able to develop and demonstrate knowledge of your chosen subject as well as transferable skills such as inter-personal communication, data collection and analysis, report writing, and effective time management which are all valuable whether you progress to undertake further study or employment. This module is compulsory for final year Single Honours History students.

Module aims - intentions of the module

On completion of your dissertation, you should be capable of pursuing research at a sophisticated level, have an excellent grasp of the possibilities and problems presented by the use of primary sources, and have an extensive knowledge of the historiography of your subject.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Define a suitable research topic and pursue it to completion
• 2. Evaluate the main themes in works of history
• 3. Assess the professionalism and scholarly value of historical works
• 4. Evaluate the reasons for changes in historiography
• 5. Use primary sources in a professional manner
• 6. Present work in a scholarly fashion

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. Critically assess the work of scholars
• 8. Collate and critique data from a range of sources
• 9. Understand and deploy historical terminology in a comprehensible manner
• 10. Handle different approaches in areas of controversy
• 11. Analyse and differentiate between complex original sources

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 12. Digest, select and organise large amounts of material to produce, to a deadline, a coherent and cogent argument, developed through the mode of assessment
• 13. Plan the execution of work over a long time-scale

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• During the latter half of the academic year prior to their final year, you will be asked to identify an area which you might wish to study, and will then discuss its viability with the relevant member of staff.
• Once a subject has been agreed, you will set to work to produce a piece of work which makes significant use of primary sources.
• You will then research and write up your dissertation, with supervision on an individual basis. In terms of supervision, you will be entitled to a maximum of one hour to set up the dissertation subject, plus a further 3 hours consultation with the relevant tutor. It is envisaged that the bulk of your time will be spent on private study, at the rate of 10 hours per week.
• Supervisors will provide detailed feedback on an annotated bibliography of key primary and secondary sources, and up to 3000 words of the final draft (usually one section or chapter).
• Dissertations are regarded as examinable components and as such, feedback will not be available until after the exam board has met.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• As appropriate to the topic chosen.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=11308

Key words search

History; research; writing; historiography