Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE EVD5301

 
TITLE Dissertation

 
UM LEVEL 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course

 
MQF LEVEL 7

 
ECTS CREDITS 30

 
DEPARTMENT Environmental Design

 
DESCRIPTION It is often termed as the final year project, or DISSERTATION, calling in all the knowledge accumulated throughout the MSc course, culminating in one scientific/technical report. However it is typically more focused on one aspect or subject area, depending on the inclination or preferred focus of the student. It forms an integral part of the MSc in Environmental Design.

Each student will be assigned to a mentor/tutor from the Faculty's appointed Academic Staff, who would provide guidance on initial reading and data sources, comment on draft reports, and provide support, guidance and feedback at all stages of the work.

A co-tutor may also be appointed from within the same Faculty or another Department, Faculty or Institute at the University of Malta, as may be required, depending on the area of expertise required.

Study-unit Aims

The aims of this study-unit are:
- To present students with different approaches to real life scenarios, moving from 'problem-setting' to 'problem-solving' in buildings and their energy conscious design;
- To enable the student to formulate, plan and execute a particular energy project;
- To apply theoretical knowledge and acquire experience in using empirical analys is tools to solve a hands-on problem in energy technology;
- To enhance the capacity of independent research and provide an opportunity to build on personal skills in addressing an energy issue;
- To deliver results, as would be required in real-life working environments.

Learning Outcomes

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- Call up the theoretical knowledge that was accumulated throughout the teaching component on the precedent years on the MSc course;
- Learn to carry out independent research in a structured and well-planned manner;
- Learn from industrial collaboration about new techniques for solving critical issues.
- Given such an understanding, students shall eventually be able to form part of a design team, working in tandem with building services engineers, giving sound advice on energy efficiency in the running of the building.

2. Skills:

Upon completion of their dissertation students will be able:
- To undertake professional genuine research, moving from a literature review to proposing a methodology to carry out experiments;
- To devise and develop effective experiments/trials based on precedent studies and their own literature review;
- To experiment, enhance and refine the effectiveness of a proposed solution;
- To express their results and ultimately defend them in writing and in oral deliberations.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings

Various books, scientific publications, software and other academic or technical aides and tools, relevant to the topic of research.

The University of Malta has extensive resources of on-line journals, inter-library loan facility of books, reviews and 'Melitensia' sources and databases, although these are not exhaustive.

Most of these sources will be suggested by the respective tutor and/or co-tutor.

A list of example topics and their respective descriptor will assist the students on how to choose their preferred topic of research.

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES **September Assessment Session: Students who fail to obtain an overall pass mark will be re-examined in the Dissertation. However, the resit availability for the Oral Examination is at the discretion of the Board of Examiners.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Dissertation

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Dissertation and Oral Examination (See Add. Notes) ** 100%

 
LECTURER/S

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit