Last modified: 23 Jul 2024 10:43
This course offers students the opportunity to complete a substantial piece of data-driven, empirical work within their field of study under the supervision of an experienced researcher.
Topics available will be varied but within the domain of their field of study. Alongside supervisors, students will identify a suitable topic area, describe an appropriate study design and implement an empirical study to be completed within a laboratory setting. Students will be involved alongside the supervisors in the process of defining the research question, and developing the research plan and, where appropriate, obtaining regulatory approvals. This course is for laboratory-based projects (if you are intending to undertake a project in non-laboratory setting you should register on PU5913)
| Study Type | Postgraduate | Level | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | Third Term | Credit Points | 60 credits (30 ECTS credits) |
| Campus | Aberdeen | Sustained Study | No |
| Co-ordinators |
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This course aims to give students direct experience of the management and delivery of a research project, including research planning and design, developing independent research skills and approaches, critical thinking, and communication of research findings.
Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 60 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 51 | Feedback Weeks | 53 | |
| Feedback |
Students will receive feedback on their final submission within 15 working days of submission. This will be in the format of annotations on the marking rubric, with additional summary comments provided in the feedback box. Additional feedback can be obtained from the markers. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Understand | Demonstrate a clear understanding of the hypothesis and aims of the research project. |
| Conceptual | Understand | Demonstrate detailed background knowledge relevant to the research project |
| Procedural | Analyse | Design and conduct appropriate approaches to address the stated aims, with appropriate controls. These “approaches” may be laboratory experiments, literature research strategies or database analyses. |
| Procedural | Analyse | Accurately analyse and interpret research findings, with respect to the stated aims. |
| Procedural | Apply | Identify specific research objectives to address the stated aims of the project. |
| Procedural | Apply | Improve skills in oral presentation of research |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Place results in the context of wider literature, identifying your contribution towards the advancement of knowledge, and proposing future lines of research. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 51 | Feedback Weeks | 53 | |
| Feedback |
Students will receive feedback in the form of questions from staff and peers during the presentation session which will indicate areas for more clarification. The feedback procedure is as an opportunity to support students in considering the interpretation of results for the academic paper/report. Additional feedback in the marking rubric will be available within 10 working days, with additional summary comments provided in the feedback box. Additional feedback can be obtained from the markers. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Analyse | Accurately analyse and interpret research findings, with respect to the stated aims. |
| Procedural | Apply | Improve skills in oral presentation of research |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Place results in the context of wider literature, identifying your contribution towards the advancement of knowledge, and proposing future lines of research. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 20 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 53 | Feedback Weeks | 53 | |
| Feedback |
Students will receive feedback within 10 working days of the project completion. This will be in the form of annotations on the marking rubric, with additional summary comments provided in the feedback box. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Analyse | Design and conduct appropriate approaches to address the stated aims, with appropriate controls. These “approaches” may be laboratory experiments, literature research strategies or database analyses. |
| Procedural | Apply | Improve skills in oral presentation of research |
| Procedural | Apply | Improve skills in scientific writing |
| Assessment Type | Formative | Weighting | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 42 | Feedback Weeks | 43 | |
| Feedback |
Students will receive feedback based on the written protocol rubric and peer review comments (available on MyAberdeen). After submission of the project plan students will be assigned two peers’ submissions to review and provide feedback on, and will be expected to provide constructive advice to help their peers improve their study plan. This process not only supports peers (and the student from the feedback they receive) but, by critically reviewing two other project plans, students will be able to draw comparison with their own submission and will gain an insight into what works well for structure, etc. In addition peer review feedback will be provided by a member of staff . Students will also be able to access the review provided by the member of staff, and the paired student review of the protocol that was reviewed to see how closely these match, to help improve critical thinking skills. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Conceptual | Understand | Demonstrate a clear understanding of the hypothesis and aims of the research project. |
| Conceptual | Understand | Demonstrate detailed background knowledge relevant to the research project |
| Procedural | Apply | Improve skills in oral presentation of research |
| Procedural | Apply | Improve skills in scientific writing |
| Procedural | Apply | Identify specific research objectives to address the stated aims of the project. |
| Assessment Type | Formative | Weighting | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 45 | Feedback Weeks | 46 | |
| Feedback |
The students are asked to reflect and critically consider their research journey at the mid-point of the course by answering 5 questions. Supervisors will read the 750-word reflective writing and provide formative feedback to the students. They will also review the laboratory notebooks at this stage and provide the feedback. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Analyse | Design and conduct appropriate approaches to address the stated aims, with appropriate controls. These “approaches” may be laboratory experiments, literature research strategies or database analyses. |
| Procedural | Apply | Improve skills in oral presentation of research |
| Procedural | Apply | Improve skills in scientific writing |
| Procedural | Apply | Identify specific research objectives to address the stated aims of the project. |
| Assessment Type | Summative | Weighting | 100 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment Weeks | 3 | Feedback Weeks | 3 | |
| Feedback |
Oral examination, lasting approximately 30 minutes combined with a written assignment Project Report/Dissertation (maximum of 3000 words). You will be informed of the outcome of your resit (i.e. resit pass/resit fail) within 5 working days of the oral examination. This will be communicated to you by the course coordinator by email. |
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
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| Knowledge Level | Thinking Skill | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Procedural | Analyse | Design and conduct appropriate approaches to address the stated aims, with appropriate controls. These “approaches” may be laboratory experiments, literature research strategies or database analyses. |
| Procedural | Evaluate | Place results in the context of wider literature, identifying your contribution towards the advancement of knowledge, and proposing future lines of research. |
| Procedural | Analyse | Accurately analyse and interpret research findings, with respect to the stated aims. |
| Conceptual | Understand | Demonstrate detailed background knowledge relevant to the research project |
| Procedural | Apply | Improve skills in oral presentation of research |
| Procedural | Apply | Identify specific research objectives to address the stated aims of the project. |
| Procedural | Apply | Improve skills in scientific writing |
| Conceptual | Understand | Demonstrate a clear understanding of the hypothesis and aims of the research project. |
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