| Unit name | Dissertation: Industrial Placement & Written Element |
|---|---|
| Unit code | FATVM0009 |
| Credit points | 60 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52) |
| Unit director | Dr. Massoumi |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
none |
| Co-requisites |
none |
| School/department | Department of Film and Television |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
All MA students are expected to take one of four optional dissertation units. The industrial placement optional unit will provide a structured and supervised opportunity for MA students to engage in a period of fieldwork that enables them to research specific questions to be agreed with their academic supervisor, and which results in a written analysis. As part of the placement the student will conduct appropriate tasks under the guidance of a nominated mentor from the host organization and under the supervision of a teacher from the Department. A report on the student from the mentor will inform the assessment of the dissertation as a whole.
It would normally be expected that this student's choice of project would arise from work already undertaken on individual programmes, providing an opportunity to explore a specialist area in more detail. The title, scale and form of each piece of work will be negotiated through supervision. In every case the work will be expected to meet the requirements of summative masters level work.
Aims:
1. To provide the opportunity for students to gain in-depth knowledge of an specialist area by engaging closely with how creative industries function practically and within wider cultural and artistic contexts.
2. To enable students to develop and apply appropriate knowledge and skills within a professional industrial setting.
3. To enable students to design and execute a research project that includes fieldwork, and to explore a range of possible methodological approaches appropriate to the topic.
On successful completion of this unit, students should:
1. Be able to work independently, constructively and creatively in an industrial setting.
2. Have become familiar with existing work on a particular subject and to understand processes in the selected areas of practice.
3. Be able to design a project that is realistic in scope to which the industrial placement is a necessary and integral part.
4. Be able to distinguish between a range of different research methods.
5. Be able to work within the disciplines of relevant professional processes, working to deadlines and within the regulations and budgets of the host organization.
6. Be able to reflect on individual work within an industrial context and with reference to an appropriate range of critical ideas.
7. Be able to communicate that knowledge with clarity appropriate to the determined mode of assessment through reflective and justified application of conceptual, formal and stylistic approaches within the selected field.
8. All the above to be conducted at Master's level.
The dissertation will be supervised by an academic supervisor, and the student will work under the guidance of a mentor at the host organization. Placements will normally require a maximum of 150 hours.
The placement will be assessed primarily on the basis of the written element by applying the normal criteria for analytical written work, whilst also considering the report supplied by the mentor from the host organization.
For a placement of 150 hours the written element will be 7,500 words. For shorter placements the written component will be more extensive (eg 12,500 words for a placement of 50 hours minimum).
As appropriate to individual dissertation, under the guidance of supervisor.
