DISSERTATION B - 2021/2

Module Overview

This module provides you with an opportunity to demonstrate the academic ideas, learning and study skills you have acquired during your degree. You will achieve this by researching and writing a short version digital media arts dissertation that is self-initiated, self-managed and supported by your assigned supervisor. This dissertation will be an opportunity to select and explore in depth an area of interest to you within the wider interest defined by your degree. It will build on the work undertaken in the research methods module studied in the first semester of your final year.

Module provider

Music and Media

Module Leader

O'DELL Matthew (Music & Med)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 6

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

N/A

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• Individual tutorials on dissertation development, building on preparation from previous semester.


• Regular submission of progress drafts and discussion of feedback.


• Monitoring of progress and methods implementation.


• When needed extra tutorials will be arranged with staff specializing on the area of research.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of Digital Arts Media drawn from the preceding three years of their studies, and to apply it to an individual piece of written work of their own devising. In this respect the assessment is also intended to allow them to learn about knowledge management and design on an individual level through self -organisation and research practice.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• Examination by Coursework: Dissertation 100% (4000 words, due Semester 2)

Formative assessment and feedback

The proposal submitted for the research methods module will serve as an opportunity initial formative feedback for this module. This formative feedback will then be followed by other formative feedback during tutorials to assess progress and discuss any issues that arise. 

Module aims

• • Provide students with a critical individual piece of work that showcases their academic abilities
• • Allow students to move beyond a prescribed course of study in order to present their own ideas in academic manner.
• • Enable students to pursue elements of their academic career which may have been of specific interest to them, or alternatively to develop one of the aspects they have already studied in greater depth
• • Consolidate the student’s knowledge of digital media and its critical theoretical significance, as appropriate to a student at this level
• • Present this work in a dissertation that is analytical, critical and theoretically-informed

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

Enable students to develop their own critical reasoning and skills within a supported environment, and to build upon aspects of Digital Media Arts already taught.

The learning and teaching methods include:

• Individual tutorials (average 4-6 hrs mandatory) per student, to be arranged with supervisors–  including discussion of the progress of the work and the final dissertation.

Students will present their progress in their tutorials. These tutorials will also help students to focus their work, give feedback and assertain any issues or troubleshooting requirements.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: DMA3015

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2021/2 academic year.