Unit Outline

Research and project management skills are core professional competencies. Undertaking a thesis as part of your Masters will equip you with the experience needed to undertake research independently or as part of a team, and the skills to design and manage projects utilising available resources and time. It is also essential if you are considering doing a PhD. In this unit, you will begin work on a research project that will span KGA742 Research Thesis A and KGA743 Research Thesis B. With an expert supervisor you will define a problem or hypothesis that will form the basis of your project and develop a project plan that outlines how you will address this in a thesis. This includes developing critical knowledge and skills in methodologies and methods appropriate to your research field, topic and project. These may be quantitative, qualitative and/or spatial. The combination of KGA742 Research Thesis A and KGA743 Research Thesis B comprise one quarter (50% of 200%) of the requirements for the K7P Master of Planning, P7B Master of Environmental Geospatial Science and P7C Master of Protected Area Conservation. The research must address a topic of significance for environmental management/spatial science (P7B candidates), planning (K7P candidates) or protected areas (P7C candidates).

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1.	Design a research project to address a complex contemporary problem or hypothesis
2.	Synthesise complex knowledge to support robust research design decision-making
3.	Evaluate appropriate methodologies and methods to enable justification of research design

Alterations as a result of student feedback

No alternation have been made.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Presentation	See the MyLO site for the due date	0 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 2:	Project Plan	Refer to Assessment Description	0 %	LO1, LO2, LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Presentation

Task Description:

Seminar presentation: Effective communication is a vital professional skill. In this task you will present on one aspect of your research:
1. If you need ethics approval for your project, you will present on the methodology and methods that forms the basis of your application to the relevant University of Tasmania’s ethics committee;
2. If you don’t need ethic approval, you will present a detailed overview of the methodology and methods you are using to address your research question(s) or hypothesis.
Your presentation will be 10 minutes long, followed by 10 minutes for questions and feedback.
ALL STUDENTS will present via Zoom, using to screen share function to present their powerpoint slides.

Task Length:

15 minutes

Due Date:

See the MyLO site for the due date

Weight:

0 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Understand your chosen methodology and method(s) in relation to your field of research	LO2, LO3
2	Describe how your methodology and methods address your research question(s)	LO1, LO3
3	Understand how to effectively apply your methodology and method(s)	LO1, LO3
4	Communicate and present in a way that engaging, informative and tailored to the audience and medium	LO2
5	Communicate and present in correct English, with a logical structure, correct referencing and adheres to the time limit	LO1

Assessment Task 2: Project Plan

Task Description:

Project proposal: In consultation with your supervisor, you will develop a research proposal (see unit details, key dates, and template provided in MyLO). The main sections of this proposal are a background literature review, research questions, methodology and methods, timeline, budget, and expected benefits/outcomes of the research.
It is important that your project has academic merit; that the research question(s) or hypothesis have been designed to address a gap in current knowledge or to solve a research problem.
If your proposed thesis format varies from the traditional academic format of introduction, methods, results, discussion, references, and appendix, you will also need to provide an overview of your alternative format.

Task Length:

2000 words

Due Date:

Refer to Assessment Description

Weight:

0 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Demonstrate understanding of a topic including a review of relevant academic literature	LO1, LO2
2	Provide research question(s) or hypothesis that address a research gap or problem	LO1
3	Identify methodology and methods appropriate for addressing your research question(s) or hypothesis	LO1, LO3
4	Design a research project appropriate to the timeframe and available resources	LO1, LO3
5	Write a proposal in correct English, with a logical structured, correctly referenced and adhering to the word limit	LO1

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Review of results and appeals

You are entitled to ask for a review of the marking and grading of your assessment task if there is an irregularity in the marking standards or an error in the process for determining the outcome of an assessment. Details on how to request a review of a mark for an assignment are outlined in the Review and Appeal of Academic Decisions Procedure.