Overview
The Master's thesis consists of five (5) three-credit courses. The thesis must represent the results of the student's independent work after admission to the program. The proposed topic for the thesis, together with a brief statement outlining the proposed method of treatment, and the arrangement made for faculty supervision must be identified at the beginning of the program of study and approved by the program director and the SCIS director. The thesis will be evaluated by the student's supervisor(s), and at least two examiners appointed by the graduate program director, one of whom shall be external to the School. The additional thesis examiners may be faculty members or industry resource persons approved by the program director.
A Master's oral thesis final examination will be required when completing COMP 680.
Outline
The Integration thesis consist of five 3-credits elements, namely, COMP676, COMP677, COMP 678, COMP 679 and COMP 680. These elements are not conventional courses; however, they are treated similarly for administrative purpose.
MSc IS students who elect Thesis route are required to complete the following courses:
COMP 676 Thesis I (Proposal Writing)
COMP 677 Thesis II (Research Stage 1)
COMP 678 Thesis III (Research Stage 2)/p>
COMP 679 Project IV (Research Stage 3)
COMP 680 Thesis V (Thesis Writing and Defence)
The thesis proposal will be developed in COMP 676. The thesis proposal is developed under the supervision of the supervisor and supervisory committee. The supervisor and the supervisory committee must formally approve the thesis proposal. The student will conduct a formal presentation of the proposal to the committee. The presentation is followed by an oral examination.
MSc IS students will have 6 months to completed each of the following courses COMP 676, 677, 678, and 679 successively. For COMP 680 students will have six months to complete the manuscript plus two months for review and required revisions and oral examination. If you are not able to complete the full version of the manuscript within six months, you should apply for a course extension.
Evaluation
To receive credits for the integration thesis, the student must obtain a PASS grade for each of the required courses.
Materials
The course materials is available in electronic format and include: a Integration Thesis Handbook that provides guidelines and explains the thesis stages, and the MSc IS Thesis Style Guide.
Special Course Features
Students are expected to obtain and pay for all materials used in the projects. The MSc IS program does not currently offer funding for students to conduct their projects, however, information on Athabasca University Graduate Research fund can be found on the Research Centre's website.