Learn the essentials for writing your dissertation
Are you preparing to write your dissertation?
Discover Learning Essentials for Academic Dissertations (LEAD), a flexible online course designed to guide you through every stage of your dissertation journey.
Ideal for Level 6 and Level 7 students, you can access the course anytime and work through the content at your own pace.
Explore the key stages of planning, researching, and writing your dissertation, and check your understanding as you go with short quizzes.
What the LEAD course covers
LEAD guides you through the full dissertation journey, with each module building the skills you need to plan, research, and write your dissertation with confidence.
You’ll cover:
- Lesson 1 – Research Questions: How to create focused, feasible, and researchable questions
- Lesson 2 – Research Proposal: Writing a clear research proposal that sets a strong foundation for your dissertation
- Lesson 3 – Types of Research: Understanding different research approaches and choosing the one that suits your study
- Lesson 4 – Elements of a Dissertation: Exploring the core chapters of a dissertation and how they fit together
- Lesson 5 – Literature Review: Exploring different types of literature reviews and their purpose and approach
- Lesson 6 – Methodology: Planning and justifying your research methods
- Lesson 7 – Results and Discussion: Presenting your findings clearly and critically discussing them
- Lesson 8 – Introduction and Conclusion: Writing strong opening and closing chapters for your dissertation
How you’ll learn
You can enrol on this course on Canvas, “Learning Essentials for Academic Dissertations”, to access:
- Recorded videos
- Self-paced learning materials
- A quiz after each session to test your understanding
Prefer tutor-led learning?
Discover the Dissertation Essentials series.
Join live Dissertation Essentials sessions each week, delivered by one of our Academic Lecturers.
The ASK@Regent team delivers this series each term. It includes 10 sessions on Microsoft Teams, every Thursday from 5 PM to 6 PM.
Each workshop focuses on a key aspect of the dissertation process and helps you build your skills in a structured way.
These interactive workshops offer guided support, practical advice, and dedicated time to ask questions as you progress with your dissertation.
Need more help?
Take a look at more resources on dissertation preparation.
For tailored advice, email academicskills@rcl.ac.uk, or book an academic skills appointment with an advisor.
