A practical guide for students undertaking their dissertation, Writing Successful Undergraduate Dissertations in Social Sciences uses a mixture of exercises, strategies, case study material and further reading to give hints and tips on beginning and managing a research project and working with supervisors. Providing an accessible overview of the essential steps in conducting research and writing dissertations, this fully updated edition contains new sections on: • The varied sources of support for students and how to make use of them • The use of modern technologies, and digital platforms in data collection, storage and processing • The important issues relating to ethnographic and feminist research • How to publish through peer review publications or using self-publishing platforms • The General Data Protection Regulation and legal issues relating to collection, storage and use of personal data • The skills that students have acquired through writing dissertations and how those skills could become useful for future career and employability • How students can relate their dissertations to existing theories and concepts in social sciences that relate to their dissertation. Packed with proven practical advice from ‘real-life’ data, case studies and examples, Writing Successful Undergraduate Dissertations in Social Sciences is an essential and dependable starting point and guide for any student beginning their dissertation journey in the social sciences.

Writing a dissertation in the final year at university can be a highly daunting task for any student, but particularly if the degree is practically oriented and implementation based. This book provides an accessible, concise guide to producing a dissertation in computer science, software engineering, or games development degrees, with research projects typically involving design, implementation, testing, and evaluation. Drawing on the authors’ extensive knowledge and experience of supervising dissertation students, the book offers a step-by-step guide to the key areas of writing a dissertation alongside real-life examples. Chapters cover: Producing literature reviews. Formulating research questions. Understanding epistemologies. Selecting methodologies and research methods. Software development life cycle methodologies. Evaluation, statistical analysis, and formulating conclusions. Working methodically through the different stages of writing a dissertation, this is an essential comprehensive guide for all students producing any form of dissertation in computer science, software engineering, or games development.

Covering the academic and operational aspects of PhD research degree programmes, this accessible yet comprehensive book is an essential guide to navigating through the PhD research journey. Using a mixture of useful information, practical strategies and valuable advice, this book helps readers through the process of doing a PhD by providing essential hints and tips on key aspects such as the following: How to start, conduct and manage PhD research Working with your supervisor Writing your thesis Preparing for the viva This is a crucial resource for anyone wanting to know about approaches to research, substantive theories, data analytical techniques, essential research tools and a range of other issues that affect the chances of PhD success and completion. With global case studies and examples, this invaluable guide is a must-read for anyone undertaking a PhD in the social sciences.

The considerable increase in numbers of students required to complete undergraduate dissertations as part of their curricula demonstrates a clear need for supporting academic staff from a wide variety of disciplines in this area. There has been limited research published in the realm of undergraduate supervision. Therefore, supervision of academic dissertations in an undergraduate setting still remains to be addressed in a comprehensive manner. The overarching theme of this reference work is the convergence of shared understandings, strategies and reflections of undergraduate supervisors from around the world, from many different subject disciplines. There is also a need today for a mapping of the current landscape of undergraduate supervision. This text is presented through a series of case studies from a wide variety of subject disciplines in the sciences and arts and is enlightened by research perspectives; it comprises of a focus on development needs for supervisors of undergraduate students, using updated information, modeling exercises and interaction in the form of a series of individual activities, along with a selection geared at programme team development in preparing supervisors for their role, choice key readings, and exploration of online resources. This eBook is intended as a guide for academic staff across various disciplines who are involved with dissertation supervision. It is valuable to those in the early stages of their career who may be supervising for the first time; equally, it provides support, guidance and affirmation to those who have supervised over a number of years.

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Whether looking for guidance on the whole process, needing help with conducting a literature review or interpreting your quantitative and qualitative data, this accessible and empowering guide will take you through the dissertation process and provide all the information you need to make the most of your research project. This edition includes: - new discussions on critical analysis and the use of internet and social media research data - an expanded chapter on quantitative method and a new section on mixed methods research - case studies from a broader range of education and early childhood settings, both formal and informal - an extended range of types of data analysis discussed - updated references and recommended reading suggestions throughout, reflecting changes in legislation - a glossary of key terms - new end-of-chapter reflective tasks - a new companion website providing all checklists and templates in the book as downloadable resources as well as new mind mapping templates, a supervisor record form, sample ethics form, sample letters to research settings, a pre-submission final checklist, research proposal examples and guidance on setting out tables, figures, appendices and managing your endnotes and reference list Successful Dissertations is the essential guide for all undergraduate researchers starting a dissertation project in an Education department.

While there is consensus that institutions need to represent their educational effectiveness through documentation of student learning, the higher education community is divided between those who support national standardized tests to compare institutions’ educational effectiveness, and those who believe that valid assessment of student achievement is based on assessing the work that students produce along and at the end of their educational journeys. This book espouses the latter philosophy—what Peggy Maki sees as an integrated and authentic approach to providing evidence of student learning based on the work that students produce along the chronology of their learning. She believes that assessment needs to be humanized, as opposed to standardized, to take into account the demographics of institutions, as students do not all start at the same place in their learning. Students also need the tools to assess their own progress. In addition to updating and expanding the contents of her first edition to reflect changes in assessment practices and developments over the last seven years, such as the development of technology-enabled assessment methods and the national need for institutions to demonstrate that they are using results to improve student learning, Maki focuses on ways to deepen program and institution-level assessment within the context of collective inquiry about student learning. Recognizing that assessment is not initially a linear start-up process or even necessarily sequential, and recognizing that institutions develop processes appropriate for their mission and culture, this book does not take a prescriptive or formulaic approach to building this commitment. What it does present is a framework, with examples of processes and strategies, to assist faculty, staff, administrators, and campus leaders to develop a sustainable and shared core institutional process that deepens inquiry into what and how students learn to identify and improve patterns of weakness that inhibit learning. This book is designed to assist colleges and universities build a sustainable commitment to assessing student learning at both the institution and program levels. It provides the tools for collective inquiry among faculty, staff, administrators and students to develop evidence of students’ abilities to integrate, apply and transfer learning, as well as to construct their own meaning. Each chapter also concludes with (1) an Additional Resources section that includes references to meta-sites with further resources, so users can pursue particular issues in greater depth and detail and (2) worksheets, guides, and exercises designed to build collaborative ownership of assessment.The second edition now covers: * Strategies to connect students to an institution’s or a program’s assessment commitment* Description of the components of a comprehensive institutional commitment that engages the institution, educators, and students--all as learners* Expanded coverage of direct and indirect assessment methods, including technology-enabled methods that engage students in the process* New case studies and campus examples covering undergraduate, graduate education, and the co-curriculum* New chapter with case studies that presents a framework for a backward designed problem-based assessment process, anchored in answering open-ended research or study questions that lead to improving pedagogy and educational practices* Integration of developments across professional, scholarly, and accrediting bodies, and disciplinary organizations* Descriptions and illustrations of assessment management systems* Additional examples, exercises, guides and worksheets that align with new content