Final Project
MAIS 701: Integrated Project, normally the final course that students take in their program, is designed to facilitate extended research work under the direction of a course professor/s. The scope of the project, however, must fall within the research area of faculty members associated with the MA-IS. The Integrated Project allows students to explore an intellectual question, to relate their research to a work situation, or to engage a community problem. Theoretical and empirical approaches should draw from the student's course work and demonstrate an integrative approach to knowledge creation. The project may involve field, archival, and library research, and result in the production of a major report or paper. A project may combine a theoretical synopsis with applied work to produce an academic publication, innovative report, review, analysis, or enquiry in a chosen field that integrates learning from the MA-IS program.
Each MA-IS project proposal should include:
- a description of the project and its scope,
- the purpose of your topic / thesis statement,
- the significance / importance of your topic,
- a working paragraph outlining theme,
- the issues you will be addressing,
- the theories to be explored,
- an outline of the methodology (How are you going to do this project?),
- a working bibliography (references which you think you might use),
- identification of the relationship of your topic to all your other course work, particularly to your focus area(s). That is, what will you be "integrating"?
- identification of your tentative timelines.
Checking out resources on how to write a proposal may also be helpful.
As you begin the last third of your study plan you should begin planning for the final project. This will include identifying a topic and choosing a project supervisor (if you need help identifying a supervisor for your topic, contact the MA-IS Office).
Before commencing your final project, the completion of both core courses is required, as well as completion of all the courses to be applied toward your focus area(s), and your electives as outlined in your study plan.
You should review your notes from MAIS 602 on how to make a good project proposal, and then start reading material which would assist you with your project.
Students are required to submit to the course professor/s a Learning Contract, which specifies the project to be undertaken and the timelines for completing each stage of the project.
Students proposing research involving human subjects will be required to submit a written proposal, acceptable to their professor/s, prior to seeking ethics approval for research. For more detailed information, refer to the MA-IS Graduate Handbook section titled "Ethical Research Guidelines."
Please Note: Copyright permission is required when you want to include a substantial amount of someone else's work in your project. For more information, please refer to Copyright Information for MA-IS Projects (PDF)
The project paper or project report should be between 6,000 and 7,500 words (c. 25-30 pp in 12 pt type). Only under exceptional circumstances, and with the approval in advance of the Program Director, will MAIS 701 Final Projects be permitted to exceed 10,000 words (inclusive of footnotes or endnotes, bibliography or works cited, and appendices).
Students may ask that two readers, normally from the MA-IS program, assess their papers.
Learning Contract
A learning contract is typically a letter of agreement between a professor and a student. It should include a detailed plan stating the work to be carried out by the student, intended outcomes, a description of the role of the faculty member, a plan for assessing the work undertaken, and timelines for completing each stage of the work. Students identify, with faculty, the key books, articles, and other materials in a subject area to be read. For the reading and project courses, students are required to submit a detailed learning contract (approved by the faculty supervisor) to the MA-IS Office for approval.
Submission of Final Project to the MA-IS Office
Once the final Integrated Project has been graded and returned to the student by the course supervisor, students are then required to submit a clean copy to the Library's Digital Thesis and Project Room (DTPR) in a PDF file, before their final grade will be processed. Students failing to submit a copy of their final project to the MA-IS Office will not be eligible to graduate.
Upon receipt of comments and feedback from the project supervisor, students may take an opportunity to make minor revisions to their projects prior to submitting it to the MA-IS Office (i.e. correct spelling errors, grammatical errors, minor organizational issues, etc.) to prepare it for placement in the Library's Digital Thesis and Project Room (DTPR) for other students and researchers to access.
When submitting the project to the Library's Digital Thesis and Project Room (DTPR), students are required to use our MA-IS template for the title page (MS Word 156 KB).
In addition to the title page (in the above format), the document should include both a Table of Contents and an Abstract.
The Abstract is a key document. It is designed to accurately and effectively describe the central concerns of the project, so as to lead potential readers to read the document itself. As such it needs to clearly convey the focus of your topic, its rationale, and your principal findings and conclusions.
Among many helpful online guides to writing an abstract, here is one entitled “How to Write an Abstract” by Philip Koopman of Carnegie Mellon University.
Note: It is the student's responsibility to convert his/her document to a printable PDF file (i.e. using Adobe Acrobat) prior to submitting it to the MA-IS Office. Students may access a free PDF site by going to the Adobe Acrobat website
Students are to complete Athabasca University's online "Digital Thesis and Project Room (DTPR) Release Form", which will allow the MA-IS Office to place a copy of the final project in the Athabasca University Library, in digital format, for circulation. When granting permission for Library circulation, please provide an abstract (not to exceed 300 words) summarizing the content of your integrated project.
We will also require a listing of 4-5 relevant keywords for cataloguing purposes; however, please do not include these in your paper. You may either post them in the "Keywords" field on the DTPR Release form, or send them in the body of an e-mail to the MA-IS Office.
To access the electronic DTPR Release Form you will require a username and password, which you may obtain from the MA-IS Office.
Grades for the final project will be released once the final, revised copy of the project has been received by the MA-IS Office. A copy will also be placed in the student's record, and if permission has been granted, in the Athabasca University Library (in a PDF file).
For information on the overall DTPR e-submission process please visit the following website.
Remember to visit the Convocation website for details on how to apply for graduation and associated deadlines.
Student & Academic Services - Last Updated March 28, 2012
