MDUM8010 Chap.8 How the Dissertation Is Marked
How the Dissertation Is Marked
Two components of coursework
Student performance is assessed entirely by coursework. Work progress and the proposal carry twenty per cent and include the proposal, progress reports, presentations and progress meetings with the supervisor. The final dissertation carries eighty per cent.
The first component covers performance throughout the study, described as consistency, steadfastness and discipline, and assesses project management skills; it is determined by the supervisor.
Six criteria for the final dissertation
The outline lists six aspects under the final dissertation with printed values: research question 10, literature review 15, analytical framework and methods 15, analysis, findings and discussions 20, conclusions and recommendations 20, and communication and presentation 10. These values add to ninety rather than eighty, so they are best read as the relative emphasis of each aspect; ask your supervisor how they are scaled before relying on an exact figure.
Double marking and moderation
Each dissertation is graded separately by two assessors, the supervisor and another teacher.
When the two marks differ by more than ten or fall into different grade categories, a third marker assesses the dissertation. All marks are presented, moderated and endorsed at the Internal Examiners' Meeting.
Grade descriptors
The marking rubric describes five bands. The A range calls for original thought, strong analyses, critical application and innovative problem solving with thorough mastery.
The B range credits imaginative application and sound analysis but notes thinking that is not entirely critical and original. The C range describes reasonable understanding with little original or critical thought, the D range a bare minimum grasp, and F poor knowledge with a lack of analysis. Every band also comments on organisational, communication, presentational and professional skills.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Coursework only: the two components
- 02
What the work progress component records
- 03
The six criteria of the final dissertation
- 04
Why the printed criterion values add to ninety
- 05
The grade descriptors from A to F
- 06
The step from B to A
- 07
Two assessors and the third marker rule
- 08
Moderation at the Internal Examiners' Meeting
- 09
Communication as a criterion and as a condition
- 10
Spending a revision where the marks are
Worked example · free
Rank revision tasks by the marking criteria
- 3Match each task to a criterion and its printed value.
- 3Rank the tasks and justify the order.
Key terms
- Work Progress Component
- The twenty per cent component covering the proposal, progress reports, presentations and meetings, determined by the supervisor.
- Independent Marker
- The second teacher who grades the dissertation separately from the supervisor.
- Third Marker
- An additional assessor brought in when the first two marks differ by more than ten or fall into different grade categories.
- Grade Descriptor
- The rubric sentence describing performance in each band from A to F.
- Moderation
- The process by which all marks are presented, reviewed and endorsed at the Internal Examiners' Meeting.
- Marking Rubric
- The outline's appendix of grade descriptors used to place a dissertation in a band.
How the Dissertation Is Marked FAQ
How is the MDUM dissertation course assessed?
Entirely by coursework. Work progress and the proposal carry twenty per cent, covering the proposal, progress reports, presentations and progress meetings, and are determined by the supervisor.
The final dissertation carries eighty per cent and is marked on six aspects: research question, literature review, analytical framework and methods, analysis with findings and discussion, conclusions and recommendations, and communication and presentation.
Who marks my dissertation, and what if the markers disagree?
Your supervisor and another teacher grade it separately. If their marks differ by more than ten or fall into different grade categories, a third marker assesses the dissertation. All marks are then presented, moderated and endorsed at the Internal Examiners' Meeting.
Why do the six dissertation criteria add up to 90 and not 80?
The outline prints them as 10, 15, 15, 20, 20 and 10 under an item weighted at eighty per cent, and those values total ninety. The course materials do not explain the scaling, so treat the values as relative emphasis when planning revisions and ask your supervisor how they convert into the eighty per cent.
What separates an A from a B in the rubric?
Both bands credit analysis and problem solving with good command of the subject. The B descriptor notes thinking that is not entirely critical and original, while the A descriptor calls for original thought, critical application and innovative problem solving. In practice the step up is a claim of your own, supported by your analysis, that the literature does not already make.
Assessment move
Read your full draft twice before the final month: once as your supervisor, who knows its history, and once as the independent marker, who does not. On the second reading, mark every decision whose reason is not on the page, and every paragraph that reports a result without discussing it. Those two lists are your revision plan, ordered by the printed criterion values.
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