School of Electronics and Computer Science:
COMP6009 Individual Research Project
Basic Information
| School | |
|---|---|
| Known as | COMP6009. |
| Session and Semester | Semester Two, 2011 - 2012 |
| Credit | 20 Credit Points |
| Unit Leader | Dr Tom J Kazmierski |
| Study | 200 study hours |
| Assessment | 100% coursework |
| Coursework | A dissertation, poster and presentation followed by a review of one of your peer's reports |
| Teaching | 12 supervision periods |
| Referral | On referral, this unit will be assessed by set coursework assignment(s). |
| Syllabus Approved |
Description
Aims
This course unit allows students to demonstrate mastery of an advanced aspect of the discipline, including critical evaluation of current research and research methods, and an awareness of the current limits of knowledge in this aspect of the discipline.
Learning Outcomes
Intellectual Skills
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
- select, summarise, and survey a group of related research articles
- critically evaluate the progress to date and outstanding issues in your chosen area
- give a conference-style poster and presentation summarising your findings
- provide formal feedback to your peers
General Transferable (key) Skills
Having successfully completed the module, you will be able to:
- Locate, read, understand and review research papers
- Communicate information at the forefront of your discipline in writing.
- Participate in the peer review process.
Topics Covered
You will be assigned a supervisor, based on your declared interests. You must agree with their supervisor an area to research, and should use the skills developed in your earlier unit to locate a group of 20 or so significant articles, 200 pages or so, relevant to the chosen topic. Ideally these articles should span a period of time, range of publication methods, and research institutions. You should read and summarise these articles, producing a 8 page, using a two-column format, survey article indicating the background to the problem, the methods and results presented in your group of articles, a comparison and evaluation of approaches, and an indication of the outstanding, unsolved, issues and problems. On the basis of this you must also prepare a short presentation and poster, possibly including a demo or other live material based on your research, to be given at an end of semester research-style conference. You will be asked to read and comment on another student's survey article, giving you experience of academic peer review.
You are recommended to follow the following structure, or similar, for your research project report:
- Elucidation of research/problem area
- Context/literature investigation
- Research methodology description
- Project outcome
- Critical appraisal and evaluation
- References
This project is not required to have a practical element but the highest scoring projects typically do. It might be appropriate, for example:
- to compare, in a uniform framework, the surveyed approaches
- to complete or extend the work in the surveyed articles
- to repeat a complex, hence suspect, measurement
Methods of assessment
| Assessment method | Number | % contribution to final mark |
|---|---|---|
| Literature search, interim and final report [cwork] | 1 | 70 |
| Poster and presentation [cwork] | 1 | 20 |
| Peer review [cwork] | 1 | 10 |
Feedback and student support during module study
You are required to supply an early draft of your report so your supervisor will provide guidance on your report structure and writing style.
Relationship between the teaching, learning and assessment methods and the planned learning outcomes
The assessment elements map directly to the planned learning outcomes.
Resources
Taught to
COMP6009
Computer Science Integrated PhD (Optional)Pt IV MEng Computer Science with Artificial Intelligence (Compulsory)
Pt IV MEng Computer Science (Compulsory)
Pt IV MEng Computer Science with Distributed Systems & Networks (Compulsory)
Pt IV MEng Computer Science with Image and Multimedia Systems (Compulsory)
Pt IV MEng Computer Science with Mobile and Secure Systems (Compulsory)
Pt IV Mcomp IT in Org (Compulsory)
MSc in Microelectronics Systems Design (Optional)
Non-existing cohort: "meMScSt" (Optional)
Pt IV MEng Software Engineering (Compulsory)
Students who are not registered on an ECS approved programme may take this module subject to meeting its pre-requisites and the availability of resources. To confirm this, please can you contact the module leader (as listed above) in the first instance. They will then refer you on to the appropriate director of studies for formal approval of your selection.