Course specification for MAR8003

Semester 1, 2020 Online
Short Description:	Master of Arts Project A
Units :	2
Faculty or Section :	Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts
School or Department :	School of Humanities & Communication
Student contribution band :	Band 1
ASCED code :	090300 - Studies in Human Society
Grading basis :	Graded

Staffing

Examiner:

Requisites

Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: MSTA or MARA or MAEP and have successfully completed HMT4005 or BCA8002 or HMT4007 or equivalent.

Other requisites

Students may only take this course with MAR 8004. It is recommended students successfully complete a minimum of four Masters level courses before enrolling in MAR8003.

Rationale

This course has been designed to allow students in the Master of Arts degree to complete a research project and represents the first half of this research process. Students will use this course to undertake structured independent learning under the guidance of a supervisor.

Synopsis

This 2 unit course enables students enrolled in the Master of Arts program to either commence their 20,000 word thesis or their practice-led project with 10,000 word exegesis. The thesis shall be based on a topic chosen by the student and approved by the supervisor, and may be either the result of original investigations, or embody a critical appraisal or analysis of primary or secondary source material. The practice-led project will be accompanied by a written exegesis and will enable students to explore at an advanced level the intersection between theory and practice applying their experiential knowledge. The emphasis will be primarily on practice in order to identify and articulate significant discoveries made through experiential methodologies to increase Masters-level discipline expertise. This course should be taken with MAR8004 (in separate semesters).

Objectives

On successful completion of this course students should be able to demonstrate:

self-management to undertake independent research, under supervision;
the development of a research proposal, including defining a topic, developing a research design, sourcing materials/requirements, reviewing relevant literature, incorporating an annotated bibliography and justifying a methodology;
effective academic written and oral communication, including a draft thesis chapter or component of the exegesis.

Topics

	Description	Weighting(%)
1.	Topics will be determined in consultation with a supervisor from the student's particular discipline.	100.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2020&sem=01&subject1=MAR8003)

Please for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)

To be advised by supervisor.

Reference materials

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.

These will be advised on the basis of the topics determined within specific discipline or hybrid disciplines.

Student workload expectations

Activity	Hours
Directed 精东传媒app	100.00
Independent 精东传媒app	230.00

Assessment details

Description	Marks out of	Wtg (%)	Due Date	Notes
CONCEPT PAPER	100	10	19 Mar 2020
SURVEY OF THE FIELD & PRELIM	100	40	08 May 2020	(see note 1)
PROPOSAL AND CHAPTER	100	50	05 Jun 2020

Notes

Survey of the Field and Preliminary Proposal

Important assessment information

Attendance requirements:

It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them, to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

Students must attend and complete the requirements of the Workplace Health and Safety training program for this course where required.
Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:

To successfully complete an individual assessment item, a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks .
Penalties for late submission of required work:

Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4)
Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:

To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.
Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:

The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.
Examination information:

There is no examination in this course.
Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:

There is no examination in this course, there will be no deferred or supplementary examinations.
精东传媒app Student Policies:

Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene 精东传媒app policies and practices. These policies can be found at .

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