Design Research Dissertation

September 21,2025

21/09/2025 - 31/12/2025(Week 1  - Week 14 )

ZHOU BOYING / 0369087

Design Research Dissertation / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylor's University 

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LIST

1. Lectures

2. Instructions

3.Task 1

4. Feedback

5. Reflections

6. Further Reading

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Lectures

Week 1

In this week’s lecture, Ms. Jinchi introduced the overall structure and expectations of the Design Research Dissertation (DIS60304). She explained how this module continues from Design Research Methodology, emphasizing that students must now expand their previous research into a full dissertation.

The lecturer outlined the five key chapters of the dissertation:

1. Introduction – Present the research problem, questions, and objectives clearly. Explain the significance and rationale of your topic.

2. Literature Review – Summarize and discuss relevant previous studies to establish background.

3. Methodology – Describe the chosen research design and methods in relation to the research questions.

4. Findings / Discussion – Analyze data and connect results to theories and past research.

5. Conclusion – Summarize main findings and suggest implications or recommendations for design.

Ms. Jinchi reminded everyone to maintain an academic writing tone, use APA 7th citation, and strictly avoid plagiarism. The acceptable Turnitin similarity is below 15%. Students should also keep their weekly reflection logs and update the dissertation folder on Google Drive.

Week 2

In this week’s lecture, Ms. Jinchi explained how to write an effective literature review, which forms the second chapterof the dissertation. She began by recapping the Critical Review from last semester and showed how that work now evolves into a connected discussion rather than three separate article summaries.

Definition & Purpose:
A literature review is an overview of previous studies related to your topic. It helps you:

• Understand what has already been studied;

• Identify key scholars, methods, and theories;

• Show similarities and differences between studies;

• Provide context for your own research.

Writing Process (as explained by Ms. Jinchi):

1. Introduction — Briefly introduce your review (around 150 words), explaining how the chosen articles relate to your research.

2. Themes — Group your three critical review articles into two main themes based on shared ideas (e.g., “Clarity & Hierarchy” and “Readability & Aesthetics”).

3. Comparison — For each theme, summarize and compare the articles, showing how they link to your research questions.

4. Academic Style — Use APA in-text citation (Author, Year). Avoid “I / me”; use “the researcher” or passive forms.

5. Word Count — Around 750–850 words, flexible up to 900.

Ms. Jinchi emphasized that the literature review should be written as a seamless discussion — smooth transitions and logical connections between ideas. She also reminded students not to plagiarize and to paraphrase properly when using AI tools or previous work.

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Instructions

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Task 1

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Feedback

Week 1

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Week 2

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Week 3

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Week 4

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Week 5

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Week 6

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Week 7

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Week 8

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Week 9

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Reflections

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Further Reading

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