Undergraduate Course: Capstone Project (EFIE10002)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh Futures Institute |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 40 |
ECTS Credits | 20 |
| Summary | As the final 'capstone' project for your degree, this course offers you a high degree of flexibility in choosing what you submit and how you are assessed. You have the option to write an individual or group dissertation, or to propose an alternative format. A series of specialist training workshops will be available, and you will be supported along the way by a dedicated supervisor. |
| Course description |
This course provides the structure and support that you need to embark on a large-scale final project, which draws together all the learning that you have done across Edinburgh Futures Institute's Global Challenges degree programme.
The course provides four distinct streams, one of which you will select at the beginning of the process. These are: Individual Dissertation, Group Dissertation, Individual Special Project and Group Special Project. The more conventional academic route of dissertations will be available individually or as a small research team completing a group project. A variety of other formats may also be possible, and you may wish to propose a film, a performance, an educational programme, a website, a portfolio, or any other form that will allow you to demonstrate your work.
These options recognise that different students prefer to work in different ways and have distinct approaches to knowledge creation and dissemination. They also acknowledge a variety of pathways into employment or additional education. As such, you will be supported to select the most appropriate format to reflect your experience, skills and goals.
As with the Level 9 course on Interdisciplinary Research, the first part of this course is devoted to finalising group formation (for those students who have opted to work in that mode) and topic selection. This will be driven mainly by preferred stream and research interests, which will relate to a key global challenge. Proposals will be carefully considered by the supervision team and final approval must be provided before you can proceed with the research. It is important to ensure that you have the relevant skillset and support structure in place.
Throughout the year, a series of workshops will be provided, and you will select from a list of training sessions offered as one-off opportunities from staff across the university. For example, these might include advanced data analysis, working with community groups, artistic skills training, or research ethics. These are offered as a mix of online and in person. Alongside these sessions, you will be allocated a supervisor to work with you on the development of your capstone project. This will be well structured with some fixed points for proposals, presentations, reports and submissions throughout the year.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2026/27, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
|
Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Full Year |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
400
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 8,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
392 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course will be graded.
The 'primary submission' will take the form of a dissertation or special project, which can either be an individual or group mark.
For Dissertations, the word limit is 8,000 for an individual and 15,000 for a group. This reflects the requirement for co-authored submissions to be coherent and concise (simply multiplying 8,000 by number of group members would result in overly long and potentially unfocussed submissions).
For Special Projects, it is not possible to specify a limit given the range of formats. The broad guideline is that outputs should involve a similar time commitment to the completion of an academic dissertation. The appropriate length, location, format, etc. will be agreed in advance with the supervisor. Guidelines will be issued for a range of potential outputs.
The primary submission will be online whenever possible, but may also require assessment of objects or live events. |
| Feedback |
The first feedback point occurs early in semester 1 when students decide on their stream during a scheduled class meeting (individual or group, dissertation or special project). This event will include an informal pitch to the rest of the group, which will inform group formation around shared interests and complementary approaches. Streams will be agreed as soon as possible in the first semester. It is possible that groups will have been formed earlier than this point in the course (at the end of Level 9, for example), in which case these 'pitches' will be a valuable opportunity for feedback from the rest of the class. At this stage, an agreement in principle is provided by the supervisory team, leading to the next stage of the project. If approval cannot be offered, a specific supervisor will work with the group to develop their idea.
There will then be one formative assessment point at the mid-point of the first semester, which takes the form of a written project proposal. Working either individually or in a group, depending on their chosen stream, students will offer a brief rationale, review of literature or practice, and a proposed methodology/development plan.
At this stage, formal approval is provided by the supervisory team. If approval cannot be offered, the document must be revised and resubmitted, based on specific feedback points. These proposals will inform the allocation of supervisors, leading to the first supervision meeting, which will be followed up by written feedback from the supervisor.
Word count: 1500 words (applies to both individual and group submissions for this formative project proposal); submitted during semester 1.
Feedback will then be offered by the allocated supervisor throughout the year, with several fixed points for work-in-progress submissions, presentations or 'sharings'. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate detailed knowledge and understanding of a selected global challenge, and critically engage with appropriate theories, concepts and methods to design a research project.
- Deliver a defined project of research, development or investigation, using a selection of the principal professional skills, techniques, practices and/or materials that are required for completing an individual or group project.
- Offer professional insights, interpretations and potential solutions to problems and issues arising from your selected challenge.
- Interpret, use and evaluate a wide range of data, which may include numerical and graphical information, to communicate specialist knowledge in an appropriate format.
- Exercise autonomy, responsibility and initiative whilst working individually or with others, to bring about change, development and/or new thinking.
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Reading List
As with the Level 9 core course Interdisciplinary Research, students will research their own projects, which may include conventional dissertations as well as a range of special projects. As such, the range of subjects and literature will vary significantly. Reading on research methods is introduced in the pre-requisite courses, summarised below. General reading on mixed methods and undergraduate research is also provided here:
Mixed Methods:
Creswell, John W. 2014. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches 3rdedn. London: SAGE
Creswell, John W., and Plano Clark, Vicki L. 2017. Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research 2ndedn. London: SAGE
Ivankova, Nataliya V., and Plano Clark, Vicki L.. 2015. Mixed Methods Research: A Guide to the Field. London: SAGE
General research:
Lyall, C., Bruce, A., Tait, J., & Meagher, L. 2011. Interdisciplinary Research Journeys: Practical Strategies for Capturing Creativity. London: Bloomsbury
Robson, Colin. 2014. How to Do a Research Project: A Guide for Undergraduate Students. London: Wiley
Wisker, Gina. 2018. The Undergraduate Research Handbook. London: Macmillan Education
Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. 2016. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. London: Zed Books
Methods Literature Introduced in Researching Global Challenges Pre-requisite Courses:
Data Collection
- Olsen, Wendy. 2011. Data Collection: Key Debates and Methods in Social Research. London: SAGE Publications.
Data Analysis
- Hardy, Melissa and Bryman, Alan. 2009. Handbook of Data Analysis. London: SAGE Publications.
- Perez, Caroline Criado. 2019. Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men. London: Vintage.
Creative Practice
- Mannay, Dawn. 2015. Visual, Narrative and Creative Research Methods: Application, Reflection and Ethics. London: Routledge.
- Nelson, Robin. 2013. Practice as Research in the Arts: Principles, Protocols, Pedagogies, Resistances. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
- Smith, Hazel and Dean, Roger, T. (eds.). 2009. Practice-led Research, Research-led Practice in the Creative Arts. Edinburgh University Press.
- Owens, Allan and Adams, Jeff (eds.). 2021. Beyond Text: Learning Through Arts-Based Research. London: Intellect Books Limited.
Cultural Analysis
- Pickering, Michael. 2008. Research Methods for Cultural Studies. Edinburgh University Press
- Bignell, Jonathan. 2002. Media Semiotics: An Introduction, Second Edition. Manchester University Press.
- Davidov, Eldad; Schmidt, Peter; Billiet, Jaak; and Meuleman, Bart (eds.). 2018. Cross-Cultural Analysis: Methods and Applications 2nd Edition. London: Routledge.
- Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. 2016. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. London: Zed Books. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
On completion of this course, you should:
- Be prepared to make a positive difference to both yourself and to the world around you, responding to challenges and shaping better futures.
- Take personal responsibility for pursuing your goals and opportunities to grow and develop beyond the course.
- Draw on the quality, depth and breadth of your experiences to engage positively, ethically and respectfully with the communities and the world around you.
- Use highly-developed skills in research and enquiry to identify and creatively tackle problems, and to seek out opportunities for learning.
- Use personal and intellectual autonomy to critically evaluate ideas, evidence and experiences from an open-minded and reasoned perspective.
- Effectively collaborate and/or share knowledge, and adapt to new situations with sensitivity and integrity.
- Use skilled communication to enhance your understanding of global challenges and to engage effectively with others. |
| Keywords | Creative Practice,Cultural Analysis,Data Analysis,Data Collection,Interdisciplinary,Research Methods |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr David Overend
Tel:
Email: david.overend@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Matt Bryant
Tel:
Email: Matt.Bryant@ed.ac.uk |
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