ENG8001 Engineering and Surveying Research Methodology

Contents

• Staffing
• Rationale
• Synopsis
• Objectives
• Topics
• Texts
• Reference materials
• Student workload
• Assessment details
• Important assessment information
• Assessment notes
• Production date
• PDF version

STAFFING

RATIONALE

Whether completing an undergraduate course at honours level or embarking on postgraduate research, a student must be equipped to understand some essential research fundamentals. The student must appreciate the appropriateness of writing style and expression, particularly for the purpose of preparing a project proposal or submitting a paper to a learned journal. The student must be conversant with ethical issues, particularly with the need to report results honestly, to avoid plagiarism and to acknowledge source material in a proper manner. The student must understand the planning, purpose and significance of data collection, with insight into methods of extracting meaningful conclusions from it.

SYNOPSIS

The course provides students with the ability to (critically) evaluate research literature including conference papers and journal articles in order to determine the current state of knowledge. In addition, the course will instruct students in the principles of research to enable them to conduct research and prepare an original project in their professional area of interest. Students will be instructed how to propose and justify an appropriate research plan for a particular research problem, to choose and apply appropriate methodology, to judge the degree to which conclusions are supported by data, to judge the logical consistency of written material and evaluate the outcome of a research project in terms of useable knowledge, and to design, defend and evaluate research proposals, and to apply techniques for writing clear and well expressed technical papers and reports.

OBJECTIVES

The course objectives define the student learning outcomes for a course. The assessment item(s) that may be used to assess student achievement of an objective are shown in parenthesis. On completion of this course, students should be able to:

1. use information systems effectively; (Assignment)
2. judge the degree to which conclusions are supported by data and the logical consistency of written material, and to write a critical review of the relevant literature; (Assignment)
3. understand and analyse the ethical issues raised in a range of research situations, and have a clear appreciation of the foundations of ethics in research;
4. propose and justify an appropriate research plan for a particular research problem;
5. choose and apply an appropriate experimental design to a particular research problem; (Research Proposal)
6. perform standard statistical analyses; (Assignment)
7. understand and apply a range of standard techniques for instrumentation and data acquisition; (Assignment)
8. understand the principles of good writing, and be able to analyse and edit technical papers written by others; (Assignment)
9. prepare a well written and concise research paper or report; (Assignment)
10. develop and write a research proposal for their discipline area;
11. (if appropriate) commence their project (course ENG8002 Project and Dissertation) in the semester following based on the proposal developed.

TOPICS

TEXT and MATERIALS required to be PURCHASED or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials are available for purchase from USQ BOOKSHOP (unless otherwise stated). Orders may be placed via secure internet, free fax 1800642453, phone 07 46312742 (within Australia), or mail. Overseas students should fax +61 7 46311743, or phone +61 7 46312742. For costs, further details, and internet ordering, use the 'Textbook Search' facility at http://bookshop.usq.edu.au click 'Semester', then enter your 'Course Code' (no spaces).

Greenfield, T (ed.) 2002, Research methods guidance for postgraduates, Oxford University Press, London.
(Latest edition. Available directly from Hodder Headline Australia, Locked Bag 386, Rydalmere NSW 2116.)

REFERENCE MATERIALS

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.

Coley, SM & Scheinberg, CA 2007, Proposal writing, 3rd edn, Newbury Sage Publications.

Day, RA 2006, How to write and publish a scientific paper, 6th edn, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Leedy, PD 2005, Practical research: planning and design, 8th edn, Merrill Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Montgomery, DC 2004, Design and analysis of experiments, 6th edn, Wiley & Sons, New York.

Pease, A & Dunn, P 1994, Write language: the new secrets of writing letters that really work, Heinemann Asia, Singapore.

STUDENT WORKLOAD REQUIREMENTS

ASSESSMENT DETAILS

IMPORTANT ASSESSMENT INFORMATION

1. Attendance requirements:
   It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities (such as lectures, tutorials, laboratories and practical work) scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.
2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
   To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks or a grade of at least C-. (Depending upon the requirements in Statement 4 below, students may not have to satisfactorily complete each assessment item to receive a passing grade in this course.)
3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
   If students submit assignments after the due date without extenuating circumstances then a penalty of 5% of the assigned mark may apply for each working day late up to a maximum of ten working days at which time a mark of zero can be recorded for that assignment.
4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
   To be assured of receiving a passing grade in a course a student must obtain at least 50% of the total weighted marks for the course.
5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
   The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the weighted aggregate of the marks (or grades) obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.
6. Examination information:
   There is no examination in this course.
7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
   Not applicable.
8. University Regulations:
   Students should read USQ Regulations 5.1 Definitions, 5.6. Assessment, and 5.10 Academic Misconduct for further information and to avoid actions which might contravene University Regulations. These regulations can be found at the URL http://www.usq.edu.au/corporateservices/calendar/part5.htm or in the current USQ Handbook.

ASSESSMENT NOTES

This version produced 27 May 2008.