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

Assessment tasks have been altered to better meet student needs. In additional to the research proposal (Assessment Task 1), students are now required to submit a substantial piece of written work (Assessment Task 2). They are no longer required to do a presentation in this unit.

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:	Project Plan	Week 5	0 %	LO1, LO2, LO3
Assessment Task 2:	5000-word written piece	Week 12	0 %	LO1, LO2, LO3

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: 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:

Week 5

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

Assessment Task 2: 5000-word written piece

Task Description:

In this task, you will submit a substantial piece of written work demonstrating work to date on your project. This may be a chapter such as a literature review or description of methodology/methods. It can also include an ethics application.

Task Length:

5000 words plus/minus 10%

Due Date:

Week 12

Weight:

0 %

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.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

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.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

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.