- This module will develop student skills in accessing and using information correctly to plan and pursue a research project.
- This module will enable students to be able to formulate research questions and develop hypotheses.
- It will also support students to be able to evaluate and analyse research results as well as present research in visual and written report formats.
- This module will enable students to perform risk assessments.
- This module will enable the students to perform a complete ethical review in line with best national and international practice.
- To provide students with the skills to formulate a research strategy and apply it.
- To use scientific library databases, use google and internet effectively, and distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate sources of information.
- To reference, cite and avoid plagiarism.
- To provide the student with the tools to perform qualitative and quantitative research.
- The module will also provide students with the skills to prepare a written dissertation and a visual poster presentation.
- To encourage students to use time effectively to complete all project tasks through effective project management and planning.
Module Aims:
Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)
RRI’s key dimensions (gender, open access, science education, public engagement, governance and ethics) and how it is applied in the EU level.
Review on ethical research conducting and applying fundamental ethical principles and relevant national, EU (applied to certain groups).
A basic understanding on the concepts of scientific research (research ethics and plagiarism, the peer review process).
Literature Review
Source identifying, how to use key words to elaborate the search index, TUD database
Reading and critically evaluate the relevant literature on the chosen topic.
Formulation of research questions and creating hypothesis
Methodology:
Experimental design; Quantitative or qualitative research; Different research methodologies to apply
Plagiarism and referencing:
Explaining the importance of plagiarism and use of Harvard style referencing using library training source; providing Endnote or other suitable referencing training.
Scientific communication:
Reviewing various forms of scientific communication and dissemination.
Introduction to data analysis:
Appropriate methods of data analysis to the project data.
Project Management:
Design a plan based on the project using the Gantt chart.
Lectures, videos, workshop, endnote training.
This is a blended module incorporating recorded lectures and online webinars (lectures and workshops). The assessments will be included in the online component. Attendance is mandatory for all online assessments and should be completed in a given specific time on a relevant topic in order to achieve the LOs.
This module will take place for 2 hours each week over the term. Six hours of the module will include two online library sessions. The first on database searching and second on the use of the Endnote database. There will be two workshops, the first on statistical analysis and another on scientific writing. Demonstration will be conducted through virtual medium, using online resources or in class. Other online lectures will focus on the core elements of the module including risk assessment, ethical review, project planning, how to write a literature review and general academic writing, plagiarism, citation and referencing and how to draft methodology.
All students are advised to maintain regular contact with their individual supervisor during the period of research and compilation of the dissertation.
Assessments will be carried out on plagiarism by providing the students with different types of examples/scenarios and asking the students to consider which are plagiarism and to give an explanation. Also a plagiarism test can be carried out in the virtual learning environment, Brightspace. For the assessment on referencing, the students are provided with different sources of information, including journal articles (with different number of authors), journal articles (accepted, but not-published), book chapter, website, patent, etc; Harvard style referencing list and in-text citation are required for the students to produce. Scientific presentation will be assessed with poster development or oral presentation. An assessment on drafting a scientific proposal will cover the writing element of the thesis and equip the student with technical writing skills This is a 2-3 page document incorporating hypotheses and how the experimental section will be planned and conducted.
| Module Content & Assessment | |
|---|---|
| Assessment Breakdown | % |
| Other Assessment(s) | 100 |