Dissertations
The Dissertation Handbook includes
the procedures to be followed by course participants relevant to the completion
of the dissertation module. Failure to comply with the rules and submission
deadlines will be considered as withdrawal by course participants from the
dissertation module.
Please refer to the Dissertation
Handbook.
1. Preliminary Research Proposal
By 1st Friday of March in
the year prior to the submission of their dissertation course participants must
submit a Preliminary Research Proposal.
The Preliminary Research Proposal
must contain information on:
-
The Proposed Title of your research project
- An Abstract of approximately 250 words highlighting the proposed
research topic, aims and methodology
-
The Research Question/s
-
The desired Dissertation Supervisor (optional)
Course participants may
wish to refer to the Institute for Education’s list of potential areas of research to identify a topic they wish to conduct their research on.
Course participants may also wish to
consult the list of Dissertation Supervisors found on the IfE platform under
the module Dissertation to
identify a potential supervisor for their research project. Each
supervisor has a wealth of experience and knowledge in their field to guide
course participants towards a research area. Course participants may contact a
potential supervisor in an area that interests them to discuss their research
title. However, course participants are reminded that the Dissertation
Supervisor and Co-Supervisor (if applicable) are subject to approval by the
Dissertation Board.
Course participants
encountering difficulties in choosing a research area in education that
interests them, are advised to get in touch with ife.dissertations@ilearn.edu.mt.
The Preliminary Research Proposal
must be submitted through the Preliminary Research Proposal online form by the 1st
Friday of March in the year prior to the submission of their dissertation.
The Preliminary Research Proposal
will be approved by the IfE by the 1st Friday of April in the year
prior to the submission of the dissertation. Along with the approval of the
Preliminary Research Proposal course participants will be assigned a
Dissertation Supervisor and Co-Supervisor (if applicable).
2. Research Proposal
Following the approval of the
Preliminary Research Proposal and the Assignment of a Dissertation Supervisor
and Co-Supervisor (if applicable) course participants must finalize their
Research Proposal in consultation with their Dissertation Supervisor and Co-Supervisor
(if applicable).
The Final Research Proposal must be
submitted by the last Friday of May in the year prior to the submission of the
dissertation.
The Final Research Proposal must
contain information on:
-
The Proposed Title of your research project;
- An Abstract of approximately 250 words highlighting the proposed
research topic, aims and methodology;
-
The Research Question/s;
-
The Literature Review;
-
The Proposed Methodology;
-
Ethical Considerations:
-
Limitations:
-
The Project Timeline; and
-
The suggested Bibliography
The Final Research Proposal must be
submitted in soft copy via email to ife.dissertations@ilearn.edu.mt using the Research
Proposal form in the Dissertation Handbook. The Final Research Proposal must be
signed by the course participant, the Dissertation Supervisor and the
Co-Supervisor (if applicable).
3. Review of Dissertation Proposals
The Dissertation Board will review
the Final Research Proposal until the 2nd Friday of June in the year
prior to the submission of the dissertation granting approval or requesting
amendments.
Requested amendments must be
submitted to the Dissertation Board within the stipulated timeframe.
4. Research Ethics and Writing your
Dissertation
Following approval of the Final
Research Proposal and before conducting their research and analysis, course
participants must compile their Research Ethics Approval Request in
consultation with their Dissertation Supervisor and Co-Supervisor (if applicable).
Course participants will only be able to commence fieldwork once they have
received approval from the Research Ethics Board.
The Research Ethics Approval Request
must be submitted by the 3rd Friday of July in the year prior to the
submission of the dissertation.
The Research Ethics Approval Request
must be submitted in soft copy via email to the course coordinator using the
Research Ethics Approval form in the Dissertation Handbook. The Research Ethics
Approval Request must be signed by the course participant, the Dissertation
Supervisor and the Co-Supervisor (if applicable).
The Research Ethics Approval Request
must be submitted with all relevant supporting documents. This includes, but is
not limited to:
-
Information sheets
-
Consent forms
- Research tools (e.g. interview / focus group questions, observation
protocol, questionnaire)
-
External ethics approval from other institutes / schools / organisations
/ industries
Approval from third parties where research
is planned to be carried out shall be submitted along with the Research Ethics
Approval Request. Should this not be possible due to the policy of the third
party, evidence of that must be submitted with the Research Ethics Approval
Request.
5. Feedback from Supervisor
Course participants are entitled to
at least six but not exceeding ten meetings with their Dissertation Supervisor.
They are also entitled to at least 3 but not exceeding 4 meetings with their Co-Supervisor
(if applicable). They are advised to ensure that these meetings are productive
by providing their Dissertation Supervisor and the Co-Supervisor (if
applicable) with updated work in a timely manner to receive constructive
feedback.
Course participants may submit each
chapter for review and feedback twice and a final time when the full
dissertation draft is ready prior to final submission.
It is the course participant’s
responsibility to ensure that their writing satisfies academic quality and
rigour. For further information, you may refer to the Institute for Education’s Dissertation Handbook
6. Submission of Dissertation
Course participants will have the opportunity to submit drafts of their
dissertation on Turnitin from 8 weeks prior to submission date, that means from
3rd Friday of March in the year of submission of their dissertation.
Course participants may submit an unlimited number of drafts.
Course participants will have the
opportunity to submit their final dissertation on Turnitin from 6 weeks prior
to the deadline of submission, that means from 1st Friday of April
in the year of submission of their dissertation. Only one submission can be
made of the final dissertation and this submission will be considered the final
submission.
This submission of the final
dissertation through Turnitin will constitute the submission of the
dissertation to the Dissertation Committee.
The Final Dissertation must be
submitted by 2nd Friday of May in the year of submission of their
dissertation.
7. Viva Voce Examinations
All course participants may be
subject to present their dissertation in a Viva Voce forming part of the
Dissertation assessment.
A sample of dissertations may be
subject to a Viva Voce for quality assurance purposes. Within this sample Viva
Voce shall be carried out in the following cases:
-
The dissertation has been marked borderline between grades;
-
The dissertation has been marked exceptionally high;
-
The dissertation has been marked exceptionally low / failing.
Viva voce will include the members of
the Assessment board and an external peer reviewer, who may participate in the
Viva Voce online.
The chairperson of the Dissertations
Board will inform the course coordinator who will be asked to attend a viva and
the reason for the viva. It is then the responsibility of the course
coordinator to arrange the date and time of the viva and to inform the course
participant of the arrangements which have been made. The Assessment board will
decide upon the criteria within the dissertation rubric that need further
probing during the viva.
The viva will be between 20 and 30
minutes. It will be held preferably in person but not excluding online. The
first few questions of the viva shall be intended to make the course participant
feel at ease. This will be followed by questions according to the criteria
within the dissertation rubric identified as needing further probing. The
Assessment board members will take notes during the viva, which will be
available in case of an appeal.
Failure to attend the viva without
prior notification to the dissertation supervisor and course coordinator
without good reason or justification for non-attendance, may result in the
course participant failing the dissertation module and ultimately failing their
degree.
No one should attend the viva except
the course participant and the members of the Assessment board.
A report will be submitted by the
Assessment board to the dissertation board. The viva will be conducted by end
of July in the year of submission of the dissertation.
8. Minor amendments
Being asked to complete minor
amendments is the most common outcome of a viva voce. The amendments that will
need to be completed will be largely typographical or grammatical and may
include corrections to references and/or diagrams and the re-writing of small
sections of text.
If the Assessment board decides that
minor amendments are needed, they will explain what these are at the end of the
examination. Minor amendments need to be completed within 2 weeks and submitted
to the Assessment board for review and approval.
9. Dissertations requiring
substantial revisions
The Assessment board may conclude
that the dissertation requires substantial revisions, such as further research,
repeat completed research and/or re-write or restructure large parts of the
dissertation. While this outcome can be disappointing, it is important to
remember that undertaking substantial revisions can lead to a successful
completion of the dissertation.
The Assessment board will send a
report to the course participant outlining the reasons for requiring
substantial revisions. Course participants will be given a period of one
academic year to resubmit the dissertation for assessment. The final mark for a
dissertation requiring substantial revisions is capped at 45%.
Course participants will be
automatically moved to the next academic year. This will include the
requirement of paying the fees for the next academic year.
Course participants are reminded that
they must complete their programme within a 5-year (Master degree) or 6-year
period (Bachelor degree). Kindly refer to the Extension
to Duration of Studies Policy.
10 Final Version of the
Dissertation
Following the publication of results
and any amendments arising from the assessment, the dissertation is to be
submitted in the format as specified in the Dissertation Handbook.
After the Dissertation Board has
verified that the hardcopy of the dissertation has been submitted to the course
coordinator, the dissertation board will inform the Admissions Board that the
course participant has completed the dissertation module. The Admissions Board
will then take the necessary action and issue certification of the degree.