Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title	Weighting	Hours	ECTS	Learning Outcomes
Active participation in the seminars and during the process of elaborating the dissertation	10%	0	0	2, 4, 6, 9
Oral presentation	40%	0	0	2, 3, 5, 6
The Masters Dissertation (written document)	50%	0	0	1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

The Masters dissertation should be written in Catalan, except for the students registered in the English & French specializations, who will elaborate it in English or French. The same language requirement applies to the Vivas. Students should prove they understood the academic texts they used to create the theoretical framework of the study. The evaluation of the written tasks should take into account the quality of the content but also aspects related to the quality of the text (accuracy, cohesion, layout, etc.,). During the viva students should also demonstrate they are fluent and accurate speakers of Catalan (or English/French in the case of these two specializations). Students can get a FAIL if they do not have a good command of the target language.

The process of elaborating the Masters dissertation should undergo four phases: (1) Selecting a problem or a research question closely linked to the objectives and/or results of the implementation of a teaching unit during the internships, (2) Narrowing down the scope of the research/question and selecting the tools to gather and analyse data (3) Analysing the data, and (4) Producing the written dissertation and defending it orally.

Structure

1. Introduction. Overview of the dissertation and its rationale.
2. Justification. Definition of the research topic and its justification based on personal, social or professional criteria.
3. Research questions and objectives. The topic must be narrowed down in the form of research objectives and questions. The objective should clearly state whether the dissertation is a diagnostic study, an action-research or a literary review on an issue relevant for the field of Educational Sciences.
4. Theoretical framework. Students should define the theoretical and methodological framework of their study by making reference to a minimum of 5 other studies. They are not expected to produce a thorough state of the art but they need to contextualise their dissertation in a particular educational field and refer to the relevant works/authors linked to the topic chosen or the type of innovation conducted.
5. Methodological framework. Definition of the type of study conducted to fulfil the objectives set in section 3 above. Students should also present the tools to gather information (documents, questionnaires, interviews, field notes, students’ products, classroom materials, etc.,) and to analyse the data obtained. If the study is a description and analysis of an innovative teaching proposal students should refer to the tool used to establish the departing point (questionnaire, interview, observation grid, etc.) and to justify the appropriateness of the proposal.
6. Context. Description of the context in which the study is conducted.
7. Analysis. Descriptive or interpretative examination of data collected. Discussion of the results obtained. Students should be able to distinguish the description of the results from their interpretation. Results should be linked to the theoretical framework.
8. Conclusions and suggestions of improvement. This section should include (a) an overall assessment of the study conducted (b) the answers to the research questions, (c) a critical reflection of the methodology employed, (d) a statement of the benefits of the study/ innovative proposal and (e) a list of possible new research questions or suggestions for new innovative proposals.
9. References.
10. Annexes.

Format

General mandatory guidelines:

- Language: Catalan (except for the English and French specialization, in which the dissertation must be written in the target language).

- Length: Maximum 70.000 characters, including spaces (approximately 25 pages), excluding annexes.

- References should be cited using APA citation style.

The title page should include the following information:

- Students’ full name

- Title

-Creative commons

- Submission date and Vivadate

- Specialization

- Students’ full name

- The title page should be followed by an automatic index listing the different sections and the corresponding pages.

The pages should be automatically numbered. Students own the authorship of their work but in case they plan to get it published, they need the consent of their tutor and must acknowledge that the study was conducted in the framework of this Masters programme.

Submission and Viva

The General Coordinator of this Masters programme, in joint collaboration with the coordinators of each specialization, would, in due time, publish the submission dates and procedures, as well as the Viva dates and venues.

Submission procedure

Students must submit their work in the dates fixed by coordination. They should send a digital copy to the Masters General coordinator and to the coordinator of their specialization. In addition, they should give three printed copies to the coordinator of their specialization. If students fail to follow this procedure, they will miss the opportunity to be assessed.

Students can only submit their work and do their Viva on September if they have the authorisation of both the Masters General coordinator and the coordinator of their specialization. They cannot approve such change without a letter from the student justifying the request.

Viva procedures

Oral presentations must be done face-to-face on the dates assigned by the coordinator of each specialization. During their Viva, students will present the context of their study/innovative proposal, the research objectives and questions (or problem to be solved), the results of the study, the conclusions and suggestions for improvement.

The coordinator of each specialization would nominate the members of the jury and will allocate each student to a tribunal. Viva dates and venues willbemade public on due time. 

Students will have 15 minutes to present their study with the help of some sort of visual support. Jury members will have 10 minutes to pose questions to students, who should reply to them for a period no longer than 5 minutes. See the assessment criteria in the last section.

As a Viva is a public oral defence of the work done, students’ relatives or friends are welcome. The same applies to other students or teachers. The audience must show respect for the Viva procedures.

Organisation of the juries

Each jury will be composed of three members elected by the coordinator of each specialization among the teachers participating in the Masters programme or, if necessary, colleagues from the same departments. One of the three members must hold a Ph.D. degree and one must be the students’ tutor. Secondary teachers can also be members of a jury if they participate in the Masters programme as school mentors.

Assessment criteria

Assessment criteria should be made public and presented to the students. The jury would share the criteria to assess the written Masters dissertation. Criteria should be based upon these premises:

-       Quality and relevance of the contents in each section.

-       Adequacy of the methodology chosen to the type of study conducted and to the context of the problem observed.

-       Justification and coherence in the reflection of the contextualised teaching practice.

Plagiarism will be penalised. If a student commits plagiarism his/her tutor can opt to give him/her an automatic FAIL mark. Students who commit plagiarism cannot take part in a Viva. For further details on plagiarism policies at Universitat Autònomade Barcelona, please check: http://wuster.uab.es/web_argumenta_obert/unit_20/sot_2_01.htm