Honours

About this chapter

This chapter contains general and degree specific information about the degrees:

• Bachelor of Design in Architecture (Honours)
• Bachelor of Design Computing (Honours).

You should read the frequently asked questions, followed by the section relevant to your degree. This chapter is a summary of the resolutions of the faculty for the relevant degree, printed later in the Handbook. Where there are inconsistencies the faculty resolutions take precedence.

Frequently asked questions

What is an honours degree?

The undergraduate degrees of the faculty are awarded at two levels: pass and honours. While most students will complete their degree at pass level, the degree may be awarded with honours by completing a course of advanced study involving the production of a dissertation by research.

What is involved in gaining an honours degree?

In addition to the three years of study for the pass degree, the honours degree requires an extra year of full-time study engaged solely in a research task under the supervision of a member of academic staff.

What is an honours degree for?

For students who have demonstrated a level of academic excellence in their undergraduate degree, honours provides the opportunity to pursue a program of research in an area of study they select. Honours allows the development of research skills and methods under the supervision of an experienced academic researcher.

Why would I complete an honours degree?

An honours degree has recognised prestige that is highly regarded by employers and other universities.

Honours degrees provide a strong grounding for undertaking higher research degrees such as the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). A PhD is now practically a prerequisite to a career in academia.

An honours degree enables students to be eligible and competitive in applying for scholarships such as an Australian Postgraduate Award or an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship, which pay a tax-free living allowance for the duration of mater’s or PhD level higher degree study.

What is meant by first-class honours?

Honours in the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning is awarded in two classes, each with sub-categories. These are, in order from highest to lowest:

• First class with the University Medal
• First class
• Second class, Division I
• Second class, Division II.

The class of honours is determined by the student€™s weighted average mark (WAM) (see below). Awarding of the University Medal is at the discretion of the Dean. Candidates should ordinarily have a truly outstanding record over the duration of their degree and additionally produce an outstanding dissertation.

What is a WAM and how do I calculate it?

WAM stands for weighted average mark. It is a calculation used to decide eligibility and class of award of honours. WAM is calculated using the following formula:

	WAM =	sum(Wc x Mc)
		sum(Wc)

where Wc is the unit of study credit points multiplied by the unit weighting, and Mc is the mark achieved for the unit. The mark used for units with a grade AF is zero. Pass/fail units and credited units from other institutions are not counted.

In this faculty, junior units are weighted zero and senior and graduate units are weighted one.

Are there scholarships available to honours students?

Yes. Please consult the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning website for a list of scholarships available.
Applications are required in the year prior to commencement.
Further information can be accessed at:
sydney.edu.au/architecture/programs_of_study/scholarships.shtml

Honours in the Bachelor of Design in Architecture

Admission

To qualify to enrol in the honours program a student must have qualified for the award of the pass degree, or a similar acceptable degree from another university, or be a graduate of not more than four years standing, with a weighted average mark of at least 70 for the pass degree.

Before applying the student must develop a thesis topic and have an allocated supervisor from the faculty€™s academic staff. Students should discuss their proposed research with relevant staff prior to applying for admission to honours. It is also possible to have an associate supervisor to share supervision where topics extend beyond the immediate expertise of the primary supervisor.

The honours year

The honours course is to be taken fulltime over two consecutive semesters. Enrolment is effected by taking 48 credit points, being ARCH4003 and ARCH4004 in the first semester and ARCH4005 and ARCH4006 in the second semester.

The dissertation topic must be satisfactory in terms of research interests, resources and availability of supervision within the faculty and must be agreed upon between the applicant and the supervisor.

There are no formal classes. Honours students are expected to make arrangements for weekly contact with their supervisor on an individual basis to chart their work, receive advice, review and monitor progress.

The supervisor shall be a member of the full-time or fractional academic or research staff of the faculty.

Submission date and form of dissertation

A student undertaking a dissertation shall:

• lodge with the supervisor two copies of the dissertation by the end of the first week of the formal examination period in the final semester of enrolment.The dissertation should be 15,000 to 25,000 words in length. A lesser word length is expected and acceptable for a dissertation that has a significant nontext-based exploration (for example, dissertations that include a significant design or art component, or empirical or experimental research component). The word length requirement for dissertation that have significant non text-based explorations should be determined and agreed with the candidate€™s supervisor(s) and the Principal Examiner.
• 
  state in the dissertation, generally in the preface and specifically in the notes, the sources on which the research was based, the extent to which the student has made use of the work of others and the portion of the dissertation which is claimed to be original; and
• 
  not lodge as the student’s own work any work previously submitted for a degree of the University of Sydney or any other university, but may incorporate such work in the dissertation provided that the student indicates the work so incorporated.

A student may lodge the dissertation for examination bound in either a temporary or permanent form according to the following conditions:

• temporary binding must be able to withstand ordinary handling and postage. The preferred form of binding is the "perfect binding" system; and
• 
  the cover of a temporarily bound dissertation must have a label showing the student’s name, name of the degree, title of the dissertation and year of submission.

A student must lodge the final dissertation in a permanent form according to the following conditions:

• permanent binding must meet the requirements given in the University Calendar under the resolutions governing the degree of Doctor of Philosophy; and
• 
  following examination and emendation if necessary, at least one copy (the library copy) of the dissertation must be bound in a permanent form;
• 
  if ammendments are required, all copies of the dissertation which are to remain available within the University must be amended.

Non-completion

Students who do not complete the honours year will be awarded the pass degree. Those who terminate their study prior to the end of the second semester of study will be awarded a grade of €˜DNF€™ or 'Discontinue without failure'.

Students who fail or discontinue the honours program may not re-enrol in it, except with the approval of the Dean.

Determination of honours

A candidate’s performance shall be assessed by a Principal Examiner and two other examiners. The Principal Examiner shall normally be the Degree Program Director unless otherwise nominated by the Dean. After consultation with the supervisor, the Principal Examiner shall appoint two examiners to examine the dissertation.

The Principal Examiner is appointed to oversee the examination process within the policies of the University for the assessment and examination of coursework.

The role of the Principal Examiner is to:

• make available to each honours student the criteria and assessment instrument for the examination of the Honours dissertation;
• 
  ensure the appointment of two examiners for each dissertation;
• 
  ensure that all examiners have been appropriately briefed on the assessment criteria. Where practical, new examiners will be provided with examples of dissertations, which have been assessed within various bands to help calibrate the assessment; and
• 
  review the examiners’ reports and conduct a parity check. Parity is defined by the principle of equal marks for equivalent work.

The examiners shall report to the Principal Examiner.

The Dean shall, on the recommendation of the Principal Examiner, award the degree of Bachelor of Design in Architecture with honours whenever the following sections are satisfied:

• the examiners have recommended the degree be awarded without reservation or subject to emendations to all copies of the dissertation which are to remain available in the university; or
• 
  the Principal Examiner unanimously accepts the recommendation of the supervisor that the degree be awarded subject to emendations despite reservations expressed by any examiner; and
• 
  the overall performance is 70 or greater.

The Dean, on the recommendation of the Principal Examiner, will determine the class of honours, if any, on the overall performance of the candidate in the Bachelor of Design in Architecture using a mark derived from weighting the mark for the honours dissertation at 70 percent and the weighted average mark of the pass degree at 30 percent.

The honours dissertation itself receives a mark, which is recorded on the transcript next to ARCH4006. The other units will be converted to €˜R€™ for 'Satisfied requirements€™ upon successful completion of the dissertation.

The honours degree of Bachelor of Design in Architecture shall be awarded to eligible students, with the following grades:

• Honours Class I (with a mark of at least 80), or
• Honours Class II, Division 1 (with a mark of at least 75), or
• Honours Class II, Division 2 (with a mark of at least 70).

The University Medal may be awarded as described in the frequently asked questions section.

A candidate for the honours program who does not meet the requirements for award of honours shall be awarded the Bachelor of Design in Architecture pass degree.

The Dean may also recommend that an unsuccessful candidate be permitted to prepare for re-examination if of sufficient merit and the supervisor has so recommended.

Honours in the Bachelor of Design Computing

Admission

Students of the Bachelor of Design Computing should take the unit of study DECO3008 Design Computing Preparatory Honours Research in their third year.

To qualify to enrol in the honours program a student should have qualified for the award of the pass degree, or a similar degree from another university that is acceptable to us, or be a graduate of not more than four years standing. Students should have a weighted average mark (WAM) of at least 70 for the pass degree.

Before applying you should have an approved dissertation topic and supervisor. The supervisor must be from our academic staff. We invite you to discuss your plans with a relevant staff member. Students who complete the preparatory honours unit will probably resolve their topic and supervisor during this unit. If you are new to the University one of the Student Administration Centre staff will be able to put you in touch with someone to start the discussions. You can have an associate supervisor if you require shared supervision beyond the immediate expertise of your supervisor.

The honours year

The honours course is to be taken full time over two consecutive semesters. Enrolment is effected by taking 48 credit points, being DECO4001 and DECO4002 in the first semester and DECO4003 and DECO4004 in the second semester.

There will be no formal classes. You are expected to make arrangements for regular (weekly) contact with your supervisor on an individual basis to chart the work, receive advice, review and monitor progress. At the conclusion of the year you are expected to submit a body of work, usually a dissertation, properly bound for addition to the faculty€™s Audio Visual library where there is an honours and master's dissertation collection.

Submission date and form of dissertation

All honours dissertations are to be lodged with the supervisor by the end of the first week of the formal examination period in the final semester of enrolment.

Where this date is later than the due date for honours results for postgraduate research scholarships (eg, APA), an indicative mark will be provided by the student€™s supervisor in consultation with the Principal Examiner to be based, in part, upon presentation of a draft of the dissertation to the supervisor and the Principal Examiner. If no draft is provided, no indicative mark shall be provided.

Dissertations for examination can be simply bound or held together. Examined and amended dissertations are to be permanently bound (cloth binding preferably) with the student’s name and dissertation title written on the spine. The examination copy and the permanently bound copy must include a CD-ROM or DVD which includes all software and digital documentation of the research work as appropriate. These are held permanently in the faculty€™s Audio Visual library. As a guide to your own dissertation you may wish to look at this collection of works.

The dissertation should be 15,000 to 25,000 words in length. A practice-based honours dissertation has different submission requirements, described below.

Types of dissertation

Students, in consultation with their supervisor or program coordinator, should complete one of the following types of dissertations.

Design-based
The aim of a design-based dissertation is to introduce a novel design work or component technology or technology-driven design process that is realised through the introduction, incorporation, enhancement or development of cutting-edge computing. The dissertation should report on the aims and objectives of the work, the rationale and process taken in its conception and development, and a detailed reflection or empirical evaluation of the design work. Sufficient digital documentation of the designed work should be provided with the dissertation.

Model-based
A model-based dissertation aims to create a computational model of a theory or phenomenon related to design or to model design computationally based on an analogy to another system. Phenomena that have been modelled computationally include creativity, motivation and emergence. Models of design based on analogies to other systems include evolution, co-evolution and systems biology. The computational model is implemented and validated or tested to ensure verisimilitude to the phenomenon being modeled.

Empirical
An empirical study aims to characterise or explain. In design studies, empirical research is often conducted on the cognitive behaviour of designers, the social dynamics of group-based design or participatory design, or a critical study of the design of specific objects. The student will utilise a variety of quantitative and qualitative research methods including survey, interview, experimentation, participatory action research and parametric or non-parametric modelling. Where the research will include human participants, students will need to follow the University ethics policies and guidelines for research involving humans. Due to the time frame for obtaining approval for such research, students are strongly encouraged to apply early in their honours research year or to conduct their research within the framework of an existing study lead by their Supervisor.

Practice-based
A practice-based honours dissertation needs to include creative practice as an integral component in relation to the issues and questions raised in this research, its outcomes and its research approach and methods. Creative outcomes need to be new or original artwork and can include the following areas: video, composition, performance, digital photography, electronic installation, kinetic sculpture, robotic art and software/hardware prototype: (code art, devices, smart materials, wearable technology). The creative outcome cannot stand alone as research, but will be assessed together with a dissertation that includes research questions, objectives and a review of relevant artwork/artists in the chosen research area, as well as a written, critical reflection articulating the research process.

The practice-based dissertation includes different submission requirements:

1. Written component: Dissertation of 6,000€’8,000 words which is inclusive of a 1,000€’2,000 word critical reflection articulating the research process.
2. Digital documentation: Practice-based component (exhibition, performance or site-specific installation) in the form of either (i) a video DVD (5-10 mins) or audio recording (5-10 mins) or (ii) 5-10 high resolution images (eg, TIFF format) or 3 x 30 second CD quality samples.
3. Public exhibition component: The student is to organise a public exhibition (in the form of an exhibition, performance or site-specific installation) at least two weeks before the submission of the dissertation to the supervisor.

Non-completion

Students who do not complete the honours year will be awarded the pass degree. Those who terminate their study prior to the end of the second semester of study will be awarded a grade of DNF or Discontinue without failure.

Determination of honours

The honours dissertation itself receives a mark, which is recorded on the transcript next to DECO4004. The other units will be converted to R for Satisfied Requirements upon successful completion of the dissertation.

The grade of honours is determined by using a mark derived from weighting the mark for the honours dissertation at 70 percent and the weighted average mark (WAM) of the pass degree at 30 percent. While this number is not recorded on the transcript, the final class of honours awarded is.

The honours degree of Bachelor of Design Computing shall be awarded to eligible students, with the following grades:

• Honours Class I (with a mark of at least 80), or
• Honours Class II, Division 1 (with a mark of at least 75), or
• Honours Class II, Division 2 (with a mark of at least 70).

The University Medal may be awarded as described in the frequently asked questions section.

A student of the honours program who does not meet the requirements for award of honours shall be awarded the Bachelor of Design Computing pass degree.