Distinction Vs. Merit

Distinction Vs. Merit two students submit dissertation on the same topic they use the same number of papers similar word count one gets a distinction the other gets a merit the difference is one student understood what was being marked here is what distinction level work actually looks like most lecturers won't tell you this the marking rubric is a map to distinction most students ignore this they write a dissertation they think is good instead of writing a dissertation the rubric describes these are different things let me tell you how to use the rubric and everything else distinction students use efficiently the most important thing is read your rubric first before writing a word get your rubric read it carefully it tells you exactly what your marker is looking for so use this checklist before submitting check your literature review make sure every paragraph makes a critical claim make sure you have explained contradictions in literature make sure you have also produced original insights and that all your sources are field appropriate and high quality check that you have justified every methodological choice make sure your theory connects to your methods and that you have acknowledged limitations very honestly make sure you have discussed your findings comparing with other studies what are your theoretical implication or practical implication and make sure all of this is grounded in evidence find your dissertation rubric read that distinction column for each criterion ask what distinction level work should look like then write your work to fit that description the rubric then becomes your map that leads you to distinction so use that map so that you no go miss road I'll see you in the next one