esade

Final Degree Project (2235.YR.009842.2)

General information

Type:

 TFP

Curs:

 4

Period:

 S semester

ECTS Credits:

 6 ECTS

Teaching Staff:

Group Teacher Department Language
Year 4 Jordi Molina Alsina Derecho ENG

COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO PROGRAM

What is a Final Degree Project (FDP)?

Original academic research about a topic of your choice through which you can:

- Apply in practice the knowledge, skills acquired throughout the program
- Learn/complete your academic research competencies

Obtaining the FDP represents 6ECTS and is essential to obtain your Final Degree at ESADE.

Course Learning Objectives

The FDP aims to:

1.Learning the academic method to formulate a respond a research question
2.Analyzing and reach conclusions in a topic through an academically accepted methodology
3.Researching a topic of your choice that has relation to a theme related to the contents of the program

CONTENT

1. FDP Submission and timeline

The FDP must be submitted within one of the following slots via Moodle (an Assignment will be created for each slot):
- 20 June 2023
- 20 September 2023

If the FDP is not submitted in of the these two slots, it can be presented the next academic year but it means that the student will graduate one year later than expected.
- 20 January 2024
- 20 June 2024

Skipping a slot will be graded al NP ("Not presented"). An NP will not penalize the grade of your final submission.

Phases, content and timeline of the first submission slot (20 June 2023):
- November-December 2022: Selection of topic of research, assignment of FDP Director and pre-research
- January-May 2023: Methodological Seminar, Research process and sending of a draft no later than 15 April 2023 to the FDP Director (via email)
- 20 June 2023: Submission of final version via Moodle.

We strongly encourage that the interaction with the Director includes more than one draft of the FDP.

The Director has to be able to review (with due time) the final version of the FDP before final submission through the Moodle Assignment.

Phases, contents and timeline of the rest submission slots (20 September 2023, 20 January 2024 and 20 June 2024):
- For the 2nd, 3rd and 4th submission slots, a timeline must be agreed with the director, leaving enough time for proper interaction, discussion, feedback and review of the drafts. Importantly, as in the case of the deadline of 15 April 2023 in the first slot case, an intermediate date must be agreed in order to properly grade the FDP draft (see Grading FDP section).

2. FDP Defense and Final Dissertation

The Final FDP defense and dissertation will take place 1-2 weeks after each of the submission slot. The specific dates, tribunal composition and other logistical aspects (schedule, dissertation classroom, etc.) will be informed by the FDP Coordinator in due time.

By default, the FDP dissertation will be presential at ESADE Sant Cugat. In case students are abroad due to professional or academic reasons, dissertations will be organized via Zoom.

The dissertation will be an oral 20-minute presentation before the tribunal (in Powerpoint or any other format). The most important academic parameters of the research that will be presented are:

- Research question
- Relevance of the topic and personal motivation
- Literature review and/or research question 'state of the art'
- Theoretical and conceptual framework (if needed)
- Research hypothesis
- Methodology/research design
- Results of the research
- Conclusions/contributions of the research

We recommend 15-20 slides. The content and structure of the presentation can vary depending on the topic of research (to be agreed with the Director).

The dissertation will be followed by a 15-minute Q&A session by tribunal members.

The tribunal will be formed by two ESADE Professors, none of which can be the FDP Director.

The Director can be present in the dissertation but cannot participate neither on the presentation or the Q&A.

Up to two student's family members or friends can be present in the dissertation.

3. Key formal aspects

The key formal aspects of the final version of the FDP are the following:
-Extension 10.000-15.000 words (not including final list of bibliography and annexes, if any)
-Language: English
-Citation style and format: APA 7th edition (see resources available via Moodle and the Research Seminar in February 2023)
-The FDP must include an abstract
-Accepted fonts: size 10 (Lucinda Sans), size 11 (Arial, Calibri and Georgia), size 12 (Times New Roman); all in double spacing
-Important to keep an academic tone and vocabulary
-FDP structure to be agreed with the director

Assessment criteria

Passing the FDP is based on continuous evaluation. This implies that the score in every of the four drivers above must be at least a 5. Three of the four drivers of grading (representing 75% of the total) will be determined by the FDP Director, while one (25% of the final grade) will be decided by the tribunal the day of the final dissertation.
The matrix of grading and the key drivers are summarized below:

- 20% Submission of first draft (15 April): Delivering on time. Degree of progress in content, structure and other key academic parameters.
- 40% Submission of final version (20 June): Academic quality of the research and the conclusions.
- 15% Overall interaction student-director: Meeting deadlines, academic interaction, communication, etc.
- 25% Defense presentation before a tribunal: quality of presentation and key parameters of the research, Q&A and time management.

Please note that the dates of the matrix represent the case of the submission on the first slot (20 June 2023). For the rest of the slots, as explained above, the dates of the draft submission must be agreed between student and Director for the applicable submission.

Timetable and sections

Group Teacher Department
Year 4 Jordi Molina Alsina Derecho

Timetable Year 4