Learning & Teaching

What was your project trying to achieve?

I think most of us will agree, that the research dissertation is one of the key cornerstones of both the undergraduate and postgraduate taught (PGT) experience. Dissertations serve as a capstone project, marking out individual achievement and demonstrating in-depth knowledge, personal interest and research expertise. However, while dissertations are valuable, their level of usefulness can also vary depending on a student's goals. For those entering employment and not planning to progress to further studies, alternatives to the traditional dissertation more aligned with their professional interests may be more suitable.
In 2024, Professor Duncan Ross was tasked by the University’s Learning and Teaching Committee with exploring the premise of the PGT dissertation at the University of Glasgow and to assess whether traditional dissertation formats remain suitable for students and staff. The working group that was subsequently set up also explored whether there were any alternatives already in existence that better align with current educational priorities.

What did you discover?

One of the most surprising things about this project was the wide array of alternative dissertation formats already in use across the University of Glasgow and the UK higher education sector as a whole. In many cases, these alternatives seemed to better support student learning, professional aspirations and the development of workplace skills. Examples within the University ranged from placement-based collaborative projects, industry-focused reports, group research projects with individual components, oral poster presentations and a variety of different types of policy studies and briefings. Out with the institution, models also included academic journal articles, business plans and cross-disciplinary projects.

What have you done so far as a result of your findings?

One key project within the College of Social Sciences has been the development of a new optional Challenge-based dissertation (CBD) route. The CBD is currently being used across six PGT programmes within the School of Education and is being introduced into an undergraduate programme in the Adam Smith Business School. Students who choose the CBD route instead of the traditional dissertation, complete an extended research proposal including a literature review and methodology, followed by a policy brief which communicates the key findings of their research to non-academic, external partners. They also deliver an oral presentation. CBD students also have the option of doing their research collaboratively with an external organisation.

The comment from our CBD student, Claire, below is typical:

“Writing a collaborative dissertation as part of the Museum Education master’s programme allowed me to build connections with a local museum and gain practical experience within the museum field that has been helpful in starting my career” - Claire, MSc Museum Education

What’s next for the project?

In addition to expanding our Challenge-based dissertation initiative to new programmes, we are also setting up a bank of alternative dissertation model examples with practical tips and guidance for staff wishing to experiment with alternative formats. We hope these examples will be disseminated via the Learning and Teaching webpages as part of the new Employability Framework resources being led by the Student Skills and Professional Development workstream and will ultimately expand the use of alternative dissertation formats.

How can staff find out more?

If you have any examples of alternative and practice-based dissertation models, please drop Dickon Copsey an email. We would love to hear more!
You can read more about the support for Challenge-based dissertations here.

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First published: 1 September 2025