Beyond the dissertation

School: Edinburgh Medical School (Clinical Education and Biomedical Sciences)

Team: Dr Kirstin Stuart James, Brian Carlin, Dr Jess Gurney, and Andrew Irving

Abstract

Students on ‘MSc Clinical Education’ and ‘MSc Biodiversity, Wildlife, and Ecosystem Health’ told us they wanted more breadth to the final year of their learning, and for it to better inform their practice. As the sole method of assessment in both fully-online programmes, the written dissertation by research did not always offer the applicability, flexibility or relevance they looked-for as busy, working professionals. When core, inequities in access to helpful infrastructures-including local research mentors, Ethics Committees and research participants-likewise had the potential to be disadvantaging. 

We took on board these concerns and in 2022 redesigned our final-year MSc curricula. Referred to here and throughout as ‘diversified curricula’, both programmes designed a ‘pathway’ approach to MSc completion which, while still including a dissertation, now offers choice in alternate pathways to completion. 

In Academic Year 2022_23 progression through the diversified curricula proved successful with positive student feedback, and strong progression rates across all pathways. However, we do not yet know whether we are meeting student expectations, nor how best to support students when choice in pathways to completion is offered. 

Funding is sought for this new project as evaluation of this innovative approach to MSc goes beyond usual monitoring and feedback processes. Research methods are required with the overarching aim of collaboratively informing and developing student-focussed best practice guidance around diversified curricula. While postgraduate students are our primary stakeholders, learning from this study can be applied internally and externally by programmes also looking to diversify MSc curricula.