Minor Thesis 4

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2013:

In order to complete the minor thesis, students should ideally set aside 15-20 hours of independent, non-contact research investigation and thesis preparation each week.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

The completion of a piece of original research and the submission of a research thesis of approximately 25,000 words is required by the end of the third year of the Doctor of Clinical Dentistry. Students enrol in four consecutive minor thesis subjects over year 2 and year 3 of this course. This is the last of the four subjects. The thesis represents approximately nine months of full-time effort including project development, conduct of the experimental work, data analysis and thesis writing.

As a general guideline, the thesis is expected to be of sufficient standard and content to be potentially publishable in a peer-reviewed journal. In some instances a manuscript will already have been submitted to a journal, or the thesis may be in a format that will require very little change before such submission. In other instances a more traditional thesis format may be used. For either format, a more substantial literature review than is normally encountered in a published paper is included, either as a separate section of the thesis or as a separate manuscript for publication. It is recognised that not all research projects work out as well as might be hoped, often for reasons beyond the control of the student. Hence the guideline of potentially publishable work will be interpreted generously in some instances, and the thesis viewed as representing an appropriate level of effort.

To consolidate the skills and knowledge gained in the previous minor thesis subjects in order for the student to write a minor thesis and submit it for examination.

The thesis will be examined by two examiners, who are requested to read the thesis critically with regard to rationale, experimental design, data analysis and validity of conclusions, as well as citation and interpretation of literature, writing style and grammar, punctuation, etc. In circumstances where the students is required to resubmit their thesis for a second examination, they must enrol for the period of the re-write. Students who do not submit their thesis by the end of the third year are required to re-enrol in this subject in first semester of the following year to allow time to finish. In this case, a 'continuing' result will be entered. The final thesis mark is the average of the percentage marks awarded be the two examiners. The averaged mark is the final result recorded for this subject.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.