Is a dissertation worth doing?

10k is huge?

Personally, unless I wanted to go into research or a PhD, I wouldn't do it. Mine was only 5000 words (I had to spend a month working in a lab as well) and I hated it, it's very stressful and time consuming.

It is a shame you haven't enjoyed it.
I think, if you are able to a topic you are passionate about, it can be really rewarding.

I had two 5000 word essays this term [different I know] but they were meant to be based on research/case studies and data collected from our placements. I wrote one in a day and the other across three evenings. They were not amazing, far from it, but I was quite chuffed to get them done so swiftly. It has made writing 10,000 words alongside placement [workbooks, planning, assessment, reflection tasks as well as actually teaching all day lol] seem like a hill rather than a mountain lol.

10k min for mine I did a meta analysis its a recommended limit.

Theres been others which were only 4k but mine has/d lots of different elements to it which needed to be addressed.

You say you are a major/minor student, do you have to do a dissertation in the other side of your degree?

ah seen it now, in reply:
so did I until I went to uni, or at least I thought it would only be an ex poly that might do that, not out of snobbishness but because they are less likely to do something the traditional way, but I go to UEA which obviously isn't one.

Fair enough, I just thought 10k sounded a bit low? The 4k one makes that seem a whole lot higher though!

See weird, because I'm at Nottingham Trent (ex-poly obviously). If we don't do a dissertation we have to pick up an extra 40 credits, so two modules since a new system is bringing them all into line as 20 credits. I'm not quite sure what two modules you'd do...since this overall has removed our optional modules in Year 3 and so the compulsory modules are all there is. I don't know if it's University wide but I assume it is, no dissertation means no (hons) in your degree.

See weird, because I'm at Nottingham Trent (ex-poly obviously). If we don't do a dissertation we have to pick up an extra 40 credits, so two modules since a new system is bringing them all into line as 20 credits. I'm not quite sure what two modules you'd do...since this overall has removed our optional modules in Year 3 and so the compulsory modules are all there is. I don't know if it's University wide but I assume it is, no dissertation means no (hons) in your degree.

yeah that is weird- we dont have any compulsory modules in year 3, we just have to choose a number of them from a set list

I'm at Coventry (another ex poly) and we don't have a choice, you have to do a dissertation. It's worth 30 credits and if you don't do it or fail it then you have no hons. I've never heard of a uni letting you not do a dissertation and still get hons.

We had four compulsory modules and 3 options, of which we had to choose two, so not a lot of choice as it was. But now because Trent doesn't want 10 credit modules and everything else to be in multiples of 20 credits, all modules are worth 20 credits and the dissertation has been increased from 30 to 40 credits. The expected word count and quality of the dissertation has not been altered, though we apparently get some sort of dissertation related lectures to give us a bit more advice since it's worth a bigger proportion of the degree.

When we were told about having to pick up an extra module or two, thinking back maybe it was only one module, we obviously had choices. So now with only 4 modules existing adding up to 80 credits..I have no idea what you do if you decide not to do a diss, as you need 100+ credits to pass without hons I believe.




aye well It was phrased in such a way that I was led to understand the hons aspect of a degree is actually about the completion of the dissertation.

We had four compulsory modules and 3 options, of which we had to choose two, so not a lot of choice as it was. But now because Trent doesn't want 10 credit modules and everything else to be in multiples of 20 credits, all modules are worth 20 credits and the dissertation has been increased from 30 to 40 credits. The expected word count and quality of the dissertation has not been altered, though we apparently get some sort of dissertation related lectures to give us a bit more advice since it's worth a bigger proportion of the degree.

When we were told about having to pick up an extra module or two, thinking back maybe it was only one module, we obviously had choices. So now with only 4 modules existing adding up to 80 credits..I have no idea what you do if you decide not to do a diss, as you need 100+ credits to pass without hons I believe.




aye well It was phrased in such a way that I was led to understand the hons aspect of a degree is actually about the completion of the dissertation.

Fair enough, I just thought 10k sounded a bit low? The 4k one makes that seem a whole lot higher though!