Most Graduate programmes still culminate in the traditional dissertation.
Most students aim to go into paid employment upon completion of their Graduate degrees, leaving only a small percentage of students planning to pursue further education, research or an academic career.
This begs the question - why do most Graduate programmes still feature the dissertation, something which is so far removed from the real world of work.
Due to the nature of dissertations, it can be extremely difficult from a resource and capacity viewpoint to effectively manage:
Factoring in large student cohorts, and the whole operation can be a huge administrative and financial burden.
Thinking of replacing the dissertation
with something more innovative?
At a prominent UK Business School, this issue was extremely pressing with over 2500 Graduate students taking the dissertation course over two intakes per academic year:
Each course delivered required 1500 hours of seminar time. As the course was delivered twice each year, this equated to a cost to the business school of over £160,000 in tutor pay.
The decision was made to switch from 60 credit dissertations to 2 x 30 credit courses, with one part focussed on research methodology, and the 2nd part being a business simulation with Edumundo.
This allowed the business school to do away with the 1 to 1 supervision
(and eliminate the £160,000 spent on tutor costs).
In addition to the above cost savings, there were also additional gains (cost savings) made through time-saved in marking assessments (introduction of the simulation meant a lower word count was possible for the student assessment through an individual written reflective report).
Recommended Approach.
The Programme team (and module team) consulted in detail with Edumundo on the intended approach and delivery design. Based on this, a plan was developed for Edumundo to provide a customised version of one of its flagship simulations, with a bespoke service package created specifically to align with the unique needs of this business school:
How does the service differ from a standard simulation used elsewhere within a Bachelors or Graduate programme?
Edumundo provides a bespoke service and support package (based on our understanding of our clients requirements).
As most Dissertation courses are standalone - taken after the other taught coures have finished - this typically means more credit hours are required for the dissertation course, and the students need more support. Here are some examples of what can be included with the Dissertation Simulation service:
Edumundo has 22 years of experience developing management simulations for business schools. Currently working with over 400 business schools (including half of the Russell Group as well as over 20 triple accredited business schools).
As well as the multiple unique elements of its software and algorithm, Edumundo is also able to offer a whole range of service and support, allowing it to become truly embedded within the programme, and to be an extension of the school’s programme and module team.
Overview | |
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Student Levels: | MSc (Masters), PG (Post-Graduate), MBA |
Module subjects: | Dissertation, Research Project |
Languages: |
Edumundo is already well experienced in supporting many individual large cohorts in excess of 1000 students at a number of UK Business Schools. Also specifically on courses supporting the transition away from the classic MSc dissertation format, allowing an alternative which is more relevant to students, and future employers.
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