1. Final year projects – trying to keep everyone happy Dr John Maskall School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Plymouth

2. Project Choice Interest in topic Skills Acquisition Knowledge Development Contact with External Organisation Career Enhancement Preference for particular Adviser Project Logistics Staff Expertise and Interests Staff Availability Department or School Resources

3. Allocation Model 1 Staff generate specific project titles 2 Students identify and rank three choices 3 Module leader allocates each student a project

4. Allocation Model Perceived disadvantages were: – Ownership of projects – Range of titles – Oversubscription and reallocation – Student preference for particular staff

5. Theme-based model 1 Staff agree a set of themes in environmental science 2 Students identify and rank three themes and describe their interest 3 Module leader allocates each student a member of staff 4 Student meets with staff member to negotiate project outline

6. Environmental Science Themes Water Quality (Freshwater) Water Quality (Coastal and Marine) Land Quality Air Quality Ecology (Terrestrial) Ecology (Coastal and Marine) Climate Change Contaminated Land Management Waste Management Environmental Impact Assessment Nature Conservation (Terrestrial) Nature Conservation (Coastal and Marine) Environmental Management Systems Carbon Abatement

7. Staff Confidence

8. Demand versus Supply Theme Relative Demand/Supply Relative demand based on total number of first choices for each theme Relative supply based on sum of confidence scores for each theme

9. Outcome All 78 students received their first choice of theme High proportion of projects were allocated to staff with a high confidence score Mean score = 4.5 Staff Confidence Score Number of projects

10. Student Perceptions Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree Neutral

11. Student Perceptions not enough contact time with lecturers and perhaps previous students I really didnt know where to start in picking a topic an opportunity to see previous dissertation projects would have been a great help I would additionally appreciate project ideas

12. Staff Perceptions 5 = Strongly Agree3 = Neutral1 = Strongly Disagree

13. Staff Perceptions Advantages of theme-based High potential for students to have a significant influence on project design Illustrates the broad range of topics available Offers more flexibility for matching students with staff experienced in certain areas Eliminates choice based on preference for particular staff member Disadvantages of theme-based Can require considerable staff effort to help develop students ideas Students may be unfamiliar with some topics at time of project choice Limited opportunity to offer projects related to staff research interests

14. Conclusions Theme-based approach addresses most negative issues identified with allocation system. Flexibility of theme-based approach helps with alleviating mismatches in supply and demand Theme-based approach requires some support for students at time of project choice e.g. elaborating themes Staff can use negotiation phase to: – adopt a more interventionist approach with weaker students – offer projects based on their research interests where appropriate and if desired

15. Any Questions or Comments?