Terence Love wrote:
> A distinction I find helpful is:
>
> * Masters - to demonstrate competence in a specified range of
> practitioner skills, including the correct application of a research
> technique done independently under supervision.
I've seen this approach at work in technology degrees and have always
felt it gave a rather limited view of what a Masters Degree should
entail, given that the title implies "mastery". In the local history of
UK art and design education the Masters degree has implied
very advanced practice attained by somebody who was already very
competent. We need to revisit that now that the Masters degree has
become more ubiquitous and the role of research has become more explicit.
I tend to use the idea of "ownership" of knowledge as a key marker for
postgraduate study. Your first degree should give you a good foundation
of specified knowledge, but in the Masters degree the student should
formulate their own set of relevant knowledge, taking account of the
challenges that are ahead for their profession. Phil Agre's paper "How
to be a Leader - A Guide for Students in Professions Schools"
(http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/pagre/leader.html) sets this out very
well and introduces a research agenda for students who may find
themselves in a rather functional professional training environment. In
a project-led design degree Agre's advice works very well because he
provides an agenda for students to identify significant issues and
develop their understanding through project work - in Design we do more
because we demonstrate the ability to synthesise appropriate responses
to those issues in specific contexts.
I've described how we deal with that process in a paper for the 3rd
Doctoral Education in Design Conference
(http://www.chrisrust.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/academic/abstracts/tsukuba.htm).
One of the central points I was trying to make is that a Masters degree
with an ambitious main project (one that starts on day -60 and runs
right through the degree rather than just using the last semester) is a
very good incubator for future Doctoral students. Masters study is vital
for the research community, our recent research experience questionnaire
for the AHRC Research Review in Art, Design and Architecture made it
clear that a majority of researchers become interested in research
through their Masters Degree.
Incidentally I do not have a prescription for word count but it seems
reasonable that if the project involves a big element of creative work,
presented in a well-organised way (with good evidence of developmental
process etc) then the written element may not have so much work to do
and could be more compact. Our university assumes that a "practice-led"
PhD might require about half the word count (30k) of a Humanities PhD
(60k) with Science and engineering in between. So if you expect 20k for
a text-only submission you may find that 10k is OK for a hybrid,
although good students will usually have more to say by the time they
have done.
But I have never counted the words in a thesis, it has never seemed
relevant.
best wishes
Chris Rust BA (Coventry Polytechnic 1985)
********************
Professor Chris Rust
Head of Art and Design Research Centre
Sheffield Hallam University
Psalter Lane, S11 8UZ, UK
+44 114 225 2706 (direct)
+44 114 225 2686 (research admin)
[log in to unmask]
www.chrisrust.net
--
********************
Professor Chris Rust
Head of Art and Design Research Centre
Sheffield Hallam University
Psalter Lane, S11 8UZ, UK
+44 114 225 2706 (direct)
+44 114 225 2686 (research admin)
[log in to unmask]
www.chrisrust.net
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