ADV716/ADV716Z/MCR703/MCR703Z/ MCR703IC Research Dissertation Module Handbook 2025 | UoP

Table of Contents

• Welcome to the Research Dissertation module    
• Your module team    
• Attendance signposting
• Key dates    
• What to expect    
• How can I get the best out of my assessment?    
• How will my work be graded?    
• When should I submit my work?    
• What should I include in my 10-minute formative presentation?    
• What should I include in my journal article-style coursework submission?    
• What are the important practical things to remember about my coursework submission?    
• I am an MClinRes student - What should I include in my poster and accompanying 3-minute-long summative presentation?    
• Extensions and Extenuating Circumstances    
• Confidentiality    
• Corrupt files    
• Feedback    
• Important disability information    
• Sustainability    
• Equality, diversity and inclusion    

Welcome

Welcome to the Research Dissertation module

Research is an essential and integral part of health care provision and clinical practice. This module allows you to embark on a research project related to your area of clinical expertise and build on your understanding of healthcare research following completion of the module ADV715 project design for research. This module will be delivered over a series of webinars, one two-day study block, and with ongoing support from your project supervisor.

In this module, you will further develop your research idea and implement a study design under the supervision of your project supervisor, collecting data and analysing it using appropriate methods. You will then write up and discuss your project's findings in the form of a dissertation. This process will give you an opportunity to develop your critical writing skills, research management and analytical skills. We also hope this process will inspire you to continue to develop your research interests and become an expert in your clinical field.

We hope you will enjoy this research dissertation module. We hope you enjoy this module.

Module Schedule Overview

The information below provides a breakdown of what to expect in your timetabled sessions or each day.

There are three main approaches to teaching within this module, with a significant amount of self-directed learning expected between each contact point.

• There are four timetabled lectures (available as webinars for those on distance learning modules).
• Supervisory input is scheduled directly between the student and supervisor (please see the expectations information sheet for reference)
• There is a study block that runs late June, where the first day showcases student formative presentations with peer and academic feedback. Day two takes students through a workshop session, and expert advisory sessions are available for self-signup in the afternoon.

Self-directed study is a key part of this module, and there are additional optional asynchronous learning activities signposted within the DLE site.

Please note, changes to sessions or educators may occur. In-person learning is expected for all elements of the module unless you are formally enrolled on a distance learning module code.

Key Dates

What to Expect

This next section provides more specific information about what to expect as learning outcomes and assessments related to the module.

Please also access the following from the Moodle DLE shared learning site, under the FAQ tile:

What learning does this module offer?

It is a 60(/80 MClinRes) credit level 7 module that aims for students to students to move forward from their initial proposal to protocol, undertake and report on their research project. Through this process, students will deepen their understanding of the process of research approaches (inclusive of their choice of quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, evidence synthesis, service evaluation or audit) and link theory to practice in their chosen area.

What should I aim to achieve from this module?

• Critical skills relating to reviewing the literature, which will serve to inform your project; final design decisions, methodology and analysis.
• Critical writing skills that will communicate a sound justification of your selected design, methodology and analysis within the final report.
• An awareness of ethical issues related to your chosen research area, as well as how to effectively communicate this.
• Critical discussion and interpretation skills relative to the presentation and synthesis of research findings in the context of contemporary literature, policy and practice in your chosen area.

How will my learning be assessed?

A formative presentation in your June study block will help to make sure your dissertation is progressing in a timely fashion, you understand and can communicate your project appropriately, and you are developing appropriate dissemination skills. You will then develop a 4500 (+/-10%) word count journal article-style dissertation submission.

If you are an MClinRes student, you will additionally produce a poster presentation with a 3-minute presentation that will then form part of a viva with an additional 10 minutes of questioning from your examiners.

Do I need to pass both components of my module?

ADV716/ADV715Z students have a single journal article coursework style submission comprising their full mark.

MClinRes students (MCR703/MCR703Z/MCR703IC) have this component plus the poster presentation/viva as a second component. The poster presentation carries a 10% weighting to the overall mark for this cohort, and both components must be passed to pass the module.

The formative presentation is not graded and does not make any contribution to the final grade.

How Can I Get the Best Out of My Assessment?

You can expect to get the best from your assessed submissions in the following ways:

1. You will receive an informative assessment launch from the module lead

2. You have a submission proforma to ensure that you include all of the key elements required of your coursework submission.

3. In your Moodle DLE shared learning site, you have a level 7 postgraduate rubric to read in advance of and as you prepare your submissions. This rubric will guide your marker’s decision-making regarding grading and feedback when summatively assessing your work.

4. You will present and receive feedback on your dissertation on which to base your submission on from a sub-group of peers and an experienced tutor within the study block scheduling of the module.

5. You will have a chance to ask questions about the assessment within the closing session of the module (and informally throughout).

6. You will be able to use a discussion forum on the Moodle DLE site to ask questions about the assessment (or any other part of the module).

7. You will have a dedicated module supervisor whom you may meet with to ask questions, seek advice and request a quota of formative feedback on your written coursework submission (please see the document relating to ‘what to expect from your supervisor’ in the Moodle DLE shared learning site.

8. You can opt to meet with a writing fellow in the University of Plymouth’s main campus library to explore techniques and strategies to improve your academic writing.

9. You can work with others on the module and access previous examples of good coursework submissions to compare your own attempts to others ahead of submission.

10. You must submit via Turnitin and are encouraged to use this process to assist with proofreading ahead of submission.

11. You may also use AI (or any other service) to proofread your work, but you must remember that it is considered academic dishonesty if AI is used to generate parts of a submission – please refer to your student handbook for up-to-date study-related guidance.

How Will my Work be Graded?

Two experienced tutors will grade your work and provide you with feedback. The rubric against which they objectively scale their marks is transparently communicated in the Moodle DLE shared learning site. This is a bespoke level 7 rubric for dissertations. Please visit this and have a go at self-assessing your own work ahead of your final submission to make sure you have considered the same elements of assessment as your marker will be considering.

When Should I Submit my Work?

Please submit your formative presentation slide(s) to the Moodle DLE FORMATIVE SUBMISSION 24 hours in advance of your scheduled formative presentation. You will find this located next to your presentation scheduler in the ‘Module Handbook’ and ‘Schedules’ DLE tile.

Please submit your summative presentation slides and coursework to the Moodle DLE SUMMATIVE SUBMISSIONS SITE by the stated deadline. This is not located within the shared learning site but on your unique module code site(ADV716/ADV716Z/MCR703/MCR703Z/MCR703IC), all of which are signposted from the shared learning site.

A standard deadline time of 4 pm UK time is adopted for deadlines about this module (16.00 hrs).

What should I include in my 10-minute-long Formative Presentation?

Please prepare a 10-minute long formative presentation, be ready to answer questions about your study and ask questions to your peers about their presentations. Within your presentation, please include:

• Your name, student number, the name of your supervisor and your programme of study
• The title of your presentation
• The background and need for your study
• Your focused question, aim and objectives (plus hypotheses if quantitative)
• Key details of your methods and justification for decisions relating to these (relating to the collection and analysis of data)
• Key ethics, integrity and governance-related considerations
• Results, analysis and interpretation (as able at this stage – this may be a presentation of a midway dataset)
• Discussion (as able at this stage)
• Think also about questions that you may wish to ask your peer group and tutors hosting the session at this stage.

After your presentation, you will have 5 minutes to answer questions. These will be Panopto recorded and shared by your host within 72 working hours of the presentation day.
You must remember that within all presentations and coursework submissions (and wider informal discussions), individuals and organisations should not be identified (in line with the Common Law of Confidentiality and GDPR-UK 2020 requirements).

What should I include in my journal article-style coursework submission?

All students on this module need to submit a journal article-style coursework submission.
This needs to include a completed submission proforma, available in the assessment tile of the Moodle DLE site, which includes:

1. A completed Microsoft form signposted in the initial part of the proforma (this can be completed at any time in advance of the submission deadline).
2. Word Counts (of abstract and main journal article sections)
3. A contents list (this is not a typical requirement of a journal-style submission, but will assist your marker to orient to your submission at a glance)
4. The journal title of the target journal for dissemination of the project
5. Your article title
6. A URL to the journal’s home page
7. A URL to the journal’s ‘guidance for authors’ page
8. A 200-word (maximum) justification for the selection of the target journal
9. A 250 (maximum) word abstract or executive summary
10. A 4500 (+/- 10%) word, journal article style report (adopting an identified journal style but adapted to meet this word count – we are unable to vary this between students according to assessment standards within the University). Please note that tables and figures are advised to be located as part of the in-text read as they would appear in a published version of an article for this submission (which may be contrary to the guidance for authors)
11. References in the style of the targeted journal. If your journal does not specify a referencing convention, then you may utilise the default referencing convention used in the School of Health Professions – based on the Harvard system, called ‘Cite Them Right’.
12. Supplementary information (optional section)
13. Acknowledgements (optional)

Within your submission, try to showcase your understanding of critical appraisal as well as your understanding of how your findings may or may not be translated to practice.
Please refer to the FAQ document for more details regarding the requirements of this submission.

What are the Important Practical Things to Remember About My Coursework Submission?

If you use charts, tables or diagrams within the assignment, they will not contribute to the word count but must be clearly titled, referenced and linked to their accompanying text (references in text are part of the word count, reference lists at the end of the submission are not part of the word count). Table headings should be positioned above tables, and figure labels should be below diagrams. Individual tables should typically contain no more than 50 words; the exception may be evidence synthesis tables.

We acknowledge that qualitative articles tend to fall at the upper end of our word count allowance. For this reason, you may exclude quotation word counts as exceptions of raw data typically provided in results sections of qualitative papers. To utilise a word function to exclude these from the automated word count in a document: Insert a ‘table’ in your Word document by selecting a single cell (1x1 design), redesign this to exclude cell borders, then copy-paste your quotation into this cell. In your word count function, exclude table word counts.

The word total is exclusive of headings, titles and statements on the cover and contents page; diagram labels; short text boxes in the body of a submission; your end reference list and supplementary materials. All words provided to you as part of the original submission proforma are outside of the word count. The Microsoft form is outside of the word count.

Work that is more than 10% below the specified word limit is unlikely to contain enough material to merit a pass grade. Work which is more than 10% above the word count will not be marked beyond the word limit. An accurate word count must be given with the submission - you will be penalised by a 5% reduction of the overall % mark if one is not included.

You must ONLY use your student reference number to identify your work. Your name MUST NOT appear anywhere on your work, including headers/footers and appendices; this is crucial to enable blind/anonymous marking, which is a University policy.

Please name your file with your student number, i.e. 1234567890 ADV739. You are required to insert page numbers.

You MUST include a reference list with your work for it to have academic credibility – if you do not include the reference list, it will normally not be possible for your work to pass under the University of Plymouth marking schemes.

I am an MClinRes student - What should I include in my 3-poster and accompanying 3-minute-long summative presentation?

This only applies if you are an MClinRes student - Please prepare a practised timed delivery of your 3-minute presentation. Your poster will form the basis of your submission online and must be uploaded ahead of the deadline.

Please use the poster as an effective visual aid to your presentation, communicating key information about your study. Please use a poster template of size A3. Font size may be varied, and sizes 16 and upwards on posters are advisable. Please submit your poster as a .pdf, paying attention to the export to ensure that the design exports as anticipated.
Please expect to present your poster live at a scheduled examination time, under timed examination conditions. Please anticipate 10 minutes of follow-up questions following this presentation.

Confidentiality

You must ensure that the patient/client/service user’s confidentiality is maintained throughout your work, including appendix material. This also includes maintaining the confidentiality of the service and its employees you were placed within where you use examples from practice. If this is not upheld under university regulations, your work will be marked at 0%.

Corrupt files

Under the University of Plymouth policy, students are held responsible for any assessment submitted in a corrupt file. If such a file is submitted onto Moodle / DLE, staff are able to ask the Information Technologists if they can open the file on one occasion. If that still leaves the file unable to be opened and read, the work will be given a 0% mark.

Feedback

Your feedback is important to us. If you feel able to, please contact the module lead directly if you have any feedback, feedback or suggestions for improvement.

If you would prefer to share anonymous feedback, please visit the feedback folder in the Moodle DLE site, with thanks.

Important disability information

The University will do its best to provide appropriate support for students with a disability. In the context of Higher Education study, the term disability covers a range of impairments, medical conditions, mental health issues and specific learning difficulties. We have put in place a number of changes to procedures and to our campus to make our courses more accessible, and this is reflected in the diversity of students studying with us.
However, it is important for us to consider any individual requirements sufficiently far in advance to enable us to advise you on the range of options available and to put in place appropriate arrangements.

So please ensure you have told us about any disability, even if you do not think it will affect you while you are at the University

If you have already told us about a disability, we may ask you for further information or invite you to an information meeting (with the Disability Advisor, faculty representative, and accommodation officer) if necessary. We can then properly assess, in discussion with you, your individual requirements and ensure that we have the best possible chance of having any necessary adjustments in place at the start of your course. We can also advise you further about claiming for Disabled Students’ Allowance.

If you have a disability but have not yet told us about it, please contact the University’s Disability Services on 01752 587676. While we can make reasonable adjustments to our provision, we may not be able to meet your individual requirements if we do not have the opportunity to assess them in advance, and that could negatively impact your experience of the course or even your ability to complete your course or to take up your place.

Please respond positively to any requests from us for information. We can then explore with you the support available, such as assistive technologies, study skills sessions and personal enablers. We can also address any health and safety issues and relevant academic or professional expectations, and if necessary, advise you on alternative options. Any information you give us will be dealt with in confidence and only shared within the University with your consent and on a ‘need to know’ basis. We want to give you the best possible chance to take up your place, to be ready for study and to be able to successfully complete your university course.