Throughout the design specification of the MA Programme in Education, there was an emphasis on a number of underpinning principles, including that:
Participants should have significant autonomy to construct a coherent learning programme to achieve success at post-graduate level and develop as autonomous learners;
The modules pursued should have personal and professional relevance and be directly linked to the workplace of participants;
The pathway should offer a maximum level of practicable flexibility;
Patterns of provision should be structured to offer access to as wide a range of participants as possible.

Rationale

The assessment requires students to demonstrate the capacity to devise and carry-out an in-depth, independent inquiry in the field, their ability to take a critical standpoint to empirical research methods and approaches. The student must prove his/her detailed knowledge of the relevant specialist literature in the area and provide evidence of his/her capacity to evaluate extant research and reflect critically on it. The dissertation module’s aim is to give the students the opportunity to communicate their research findings and the ability to develop a sustained argument that is supported by systematically collected evidence and, therefore, contribute to the understanding of educational research.

Identify a suitable area and/or issue for investigation which has professional or personal interest or relevance.
Produce a protocol for the proposed investigation for scrutiny and monitoring purposes.
Carry out systematic research as specified in the approved protocol.
Analyse the findings in relation to specified aims, objectives and criteria for assessment.
Present a critical evaluation of his/her findings