BCM653: Dissertation II / Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying

This course is a continuation of Research Design and Methods (BCM 542) and Dissertation 1 (BCM 624). It gives opportunities for students to use appropriate research techniques/tools and apply their conceptual, analytical and communication skills. Students are required to consult their respective Supervisors at least 7 times per semester at two hours per consultation. A log book will be used to track students’ progress. Students will be assessed on submission of a complete dissertation from problem statement to conclusion and recommendation. The frequency of consultation carries 10% of the total dissertation marks. A ‘viva voce’ or an oral examination will be conducted to those students of borderline cases; when issues of plagiarism exist; and in cases where one of the assessors failed the student; he/she should attend a viva. The viva acts as the defining moment of the dissertation process to allow students to defend her/his work and to satisfy examiners that the dissertation is of a standard quality and is the students’ own work (i.e. not copied, plagiarised or written by someone else). This viva will constitute the final assessment for the examiners to decide the outcomes of the dissertation either pass or fail.