Making dissertations and final year projects fit for the 21st century Mick Healey NTFS Project Director “new models of curriculum … should all … incorporate

Making dissertations and final year projects fit for the 21st century

Mick HealeyNTFS Project Director

“new models of curriculum … should all … incorporate research-based

study for undergraduates” (Ramsden, 2008: 10-11)


Welcome• Over 100 delegates

• Including c15-20 students

• England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales

• Three-quarters from outside UoG

• Three-quarters ‘new’ (ie not here in June 2010)


18 months into 2 year NTFS funded project:

“Rethinking Final Year Projects and Dissertations: Creative Honours and Capstone Projects”

Making dissertations and final year projects fit for the 21st centuryOur argument is that a more flexible approach is needed in the form, function and assessment of final year projects and dissertations to meet the needs of all students.

In Britain: The final year dissertation, which has traditionally been seen as the gold standard for higher education, is coming under pressure for reform as student participation rates have increased, the numbers studying professional disciplines have grown, and staff-student ratios have deteriorated.


Our project is about rethinking the dissertation. We feel that we can learn much from the experience of running capstone courses.

Our focus is on students undertaking research in their final year, but it is wider in its conception, function, form, location and how it is disseminated and assessed than the traditional dissertation.


Wider in their:

• conception (e.g. collaborative projects as part of a research group; consultancy projects);

• function (e.g. synthesising capstone projects; preparatory projects for transition into a profession);

• form (e.g. student group projects); • location (e.g. employer and community based projects);

and/or • how they are disseminated and assessed (e.g. through

exhibitions, undergraduate research conferences and other forms of public engagement)

Contrast with traditional honours dissertation

Making dissertations and final year projects fit for the 21st centuryAlternative research-led projects in Biosciences at Durham

a) Laboratory-based project

b) Biology enterprise

c) Biology into schools

MIT@Lawrence is a university-community partnership that connects faculty, students and staff at MIT with community-based organizations and civic leaders in the City of Lawrence, Massachusetts.



British Conference on Undergraduate Research

University of Warwick 19-20 March 2012

Additional to honours project Alternative to honours projectCampus based Employer / community basedUndertaken at the University Distance learningResearch preparation Professional / employment preparationStudent learning centred Outcome product centredDiscipline based Multi- or interdisciplinaryStudent initiated Teacher / supervisor initiatedIndividual GroupOriginal to the student Original to the disciplineUniversity audience Professional / public audienceIn-depth analysis Synthesis of knowledge/skills Assessed by academics Assessed by peers / professionalsIndividual supervision Group / peer supervisions

Dimensions of final year projects and dissertations

Making dissertations and final year projects fit for the 21st centuryWe value highly the traditional dissertation as a potentially transformational experience, but we feel one size does not fit all.

Argue need for greater choice in the form the dissertation may take, the nature of the end product, and the ways in which it is assessed.

Additional or alternative experience?

“I cannot think of anything more unfair than … to treat all students as if they are the same, when they so manifestly are not” (Elton 2000: 1).

Learning outcomes for final year dissertations and projects

Though we argue that there should be a variety in the conception, function, form, and location of final year projects and dissertations and how they are disseminated, all should deliver a similar set of learning outcomes.

In small groups discuss whether you agree with the ten key characteristics of most but not all dissertations and final year projects and whether you think there are any missing.

4 mins


Let’s be creative and go beyond the traditional dissertation and capstone project

THE END

For more pictures of Tess see:

www.mickhealey.co.uk

http://www.mickhealey.co.uk/

In US: The Boyer Commission (1998, 27) recommended that all undergraduate programmes should “Culminate with a capstone experience. The final semester should focus on a major project and utilize to the full the research and communication skills learned in the previous years.”

Final year projects and dissertations

In Australia: Holdsworth et al. (2009) reported on Developing Capstone Experiences.

In Europe: The reshaping of the length of the undergraduate degree through the Bologna process has forced rethinking about whether, how and when to ensure a research emphasis.


“Projects, which are wider than the traditional honours dissertation, that students undertake towards the end of their undergraduate degree, usually in their final or senior year, in which they engage in a significant amount of independent research or inquiry.”

Capstone – term commonly used in North America and Australasia to refer to integrative final year projects

Our working definition


Draw on wide range of literature

• Linking research and teaching• Undergraduate research and inquiry• Employment and community based projects • Capstone projects and integrative learning• Independent, creative and transformational

learning• Equity and widening participation issues • Graduate attributes and standards• Assessment of individual and group projects• Disseminating and celebrating

undergraduate work


Outputs and events:• Lessons from literature;• Resource bank of examples;• Student experiences;• Debate within UoG; • Ten case studies;• Showcase event – 22 June 2011;• Develop alternative & additional

hons projects at UoG;• Guide on creative solutions;• Presentations & publications;• Grand findings national event 29

February 2012.


Alternative or additional projects, some of which may be employment or community-based, are required to meet the needs of all students regardless of background, discipline or life goals.

Final Year projects and dissertations

Research question:

‘How can final year undergraduate projects and capstone projects be designed and assessed to help students prepare for an uncertain world?’

Final Year projects and dissertations

Case studies• Arts, Design, Media and

Humanities • Business, Hospitality, Law,

Sport and Tourism • Interdisciplinary • Education, Social and

Environmental Sciences• Science, Technology,

Engineering and Mathematics

Final year projects and dissertationsIn groups of 3-4s each of you should look at least one different mini-case study (pp1-29) and identify interesting practices which you then share with others in your group.

Be ready to report back on ONE interesting idea from your group

Time: 10 minutes

Final year projects and dissertations• Joint briefings • Group supervision • Development of peer support opportunities • Employment of the VLE• Better preparation in years 1 and 2


An invitation to participate and send us a case study

Source: UCLAN 2010

Documents

Making dissertations and final year projects fit for the 21st century Mick Healey NTFS Project Director “new models of curriculum … should all … incorporate