Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Honours Thesis in Context

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
BUSM4472	City Campus	Undergraduate	610P BUS Portfolio Office	Face-to-Face	Sem 1 2017, Sem 1 2019, Sem 1 2020, Sem 1 2022

Course Coordinator: Dr Meg Colasante

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 1656

Course Coordinator Email: meg.colasante@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: Building 80, Level 7

Course Coordinator Availability: Appointment via email

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

None

This course is for students undertaking the Bachelor of Business (Honours) Program.

Course Description

This course transcends traditional boundaries by offering the opportunity to establish a research project in the contexts of a targeted industry. By collaborating with an academic supervisor, you will propose an industry-contextualised research study, suitable to continue to engage with for the length of the Bachelor of Business (Honours) Program. You will align your academic pursuits with emerging industry trends and potential industry partners. This contextualised process ensures your Honours year will be directly applicable to the ever-evolving demands of the professional business landscape. Your engagement in this course will begin your journey to making a scholarly contribution to your field. You will develop the background and context of your Honours Research Thesis in consultation with your academic supervisor. To support this, you will seek key publications relevant to your area of study, identify a gap in current knowledge, establish the problem statement, and specify research questions to guide the design of your research project. You will engage in consultations with your supervisor to discuss progress, and your supervisor will provide feedback to assist you to refine your research idea and guide you in relation to what is feasible and achievable within your Honours’ year. Please note that if you take this course for a bachelor honours program, your overall mark in this course will be one of the course marks that will be used to calculate the weighted average mark (WAM) that will determine your award level (this applies to students who commence enrolment in a bachelor honours program from 1 January 2016 onward). See the WAM information web page for more information.

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

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On the successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

CLO1: Identify a significant but feasible topic of research in a business industry context. 

CLO2: Critically review a body of literature directly relevant to the topic of research. 

CLO3: Define the research problem aligned to the topic of research and develop relevant key research questions. 

CLO4: Construct a contextualised project proposal with a clear research logic and with appropriate consideration of ethical, cultural and stakeholder sensitivities. 

CLO5: Extrapolate the proposed research contribution the study will make. 

CLO6: Present the research project proposal to a business discipline audience and communicate planned actions in response to feedback received. 

Overview of Learning Activities

This course requires independent learning supported by regular consultations with your supervisor. Although some references and resources will be supplied, you are expected to become sophisticated with library usage, surveying relevant literature, and developing a critical approach to assessing published literature. Most business research involves humans, and as such, there is a high probability that you will need to apply for Human Research Ethics Committee approval to conduct your research. This can be completed in tandem with developing your business discipline context research proposal, and your supervisor will support this process. Note: the activities in this course directly interrelate and align to co-requisite honours courses, including BUSM4473 Honours Thesis in Practice (where you will learn research processes directly related to this course and practice related skills), and BUSM2758 Honours Research Methods in Business (where you will determine methods to align to your key research questions and apply for human ethics clearance), and BUSM2759 Honours Enterprise Research Practicum (which will provide the research project contexts of a targeted industry). 

Overview of Learning Resources

Various learning resources will be available online through MyRMIT Studies\Canvas. Resources are also available online through RMIT Library databases and other facilities. Visit the RMIT library website for further details. Assistance is available online via library chat and email services, face to face at our campus libraries or via the telephone on (03) 9925 2020. Additional resources and/or sources to assist your learning may be identified by your course coordinator/supervisor and will be made available to you as required during the teaching period.

Overview of Assessment

The assessment tasks, their weighting, and the course learning outcomes to which they are aligned are as follows.

Assessment 1: 20% Linked CLOs: 6 

Assessment 2: 80% Linked CLOs: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Formative feedback will be provided throughout the semester via individual consultations with supervisor. Summative assessment feedback will be provided on day of presentation, and within two-weeks post assessment submission.