Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE LIN5002

 
TITLE Dissertation

 
UM LEVEL 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course

 
MQF LEVEL 7

 
ECTS CREDITS 60

 
DEPARTMENT Institute of Linguistics and Language Technology

 
DESCRIPTION This study-unit involves independent research under supervision. Students are expected to have identified a supervisor, with the help of the study-unit or course coordinator, to supervise a dissertation in their chosen area. The selected topic and supervisor will be approved by the Board of Studies for the M.Sc. in Language and Computation.

Students will then pursue research resulting in a dissertation of approximately 40,000 words. Topics for dissertations are selected based on negotiation between students and prospective supervisors; the topics must however fall within an area of Human Language Technology, Computational Linguistics, and/or Natural Language Processing.

Study-unit Aims:

This study-unit provides an opportunity for students to undertake an independent research project in Language and Computation, under supervision. This will culminate in a dissertation, giving students the opportunity to bring to bear their knowledge of the field, as well as the results of their research, on the compilation of a scientific report.

During this process, students will:
- formulate research questions based on relevant previous work;
- formulate precise hypotheses to address their research questions;
- identify the best research methods to use to test their hypotheses;
- design and execute a program of research relevant to the hypotheses;
- write a dissertation reporting on their research.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- formulate research questions in a specific area of Human Language Technology;
- demonstrate a complete understanding of relevant previous work in the selected area;
- design and execute a research program addressing the research questions.


2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- critically appraise previous research;
- identify lacunae in the current state of knowledge of a specific area;
- write a clear research report;
- work collaboratively on an independently motivated research program, through the experience acquired of the student-supervisor relationship.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

Readings will be determined by the student in discussions with the supervisor(s), depending on the research topic.

 
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