EART40000
Research Project in Environmental Science
60
Full year
Undergraduate
Level 7
David Neave
Unit coordinator
1
FHEQ level (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) ' Masters/Integrated Masters P4 '
European Credit Transfer & Accumulation System Rating : 30.0
<div><p>Students are encouraged to make contact with potential supervisors and define their project before the start of the 4th year. To assist, a list of potential projects is provided in the middle of Semester 2 Year 3, together with a list of recently completed projects, but students are free to devise their own project provided that they have a member of staff who is prepared to supervise. Students should meet with their supervisor to design and plan the project at the start of the 4th year, and then subsequently they should meet with their supervisor regularly throughout the academic year.</p><p>This is an independent project but project supervisors will use their own research experience to offer advice about what is realistically achievable, and what might be particularly fruitful lines of enquiry given the time constraints. As such supervisors will provide guidance on background reading, and approaches to data collection, analysis and interpretation. Students should keep a working record of the development of their ideas, key points raised in discussions with their supervisor, details of data collection sessions and data analysis procedures, and sample/data curation information, all in a ‘lab-book’ which is to be submitted with their written report. Final submission of the written project report, together with oral and poster presentations, is in May.</p></div>
<div> <div> <p>Students are encouraged to make contact with potential supervisors and define their project before the start of the 4<sup>th</sup> year. To assist, a list of potential projects is provided in the middle of Year 3 Semester 2, together with a list of recently completed projects, but students are free to devise their own project provided that they have a member of staff who is prepared to supervise. Students should meet with their supervisor to design and plan the project in detail at the start of the 4<sup>th</sup> year. About four weeks into Semester 1, as part of EART40031 <em>Communicating Earth Sciences</em>, students are required to give a short oral presentation that outlines their project (the subject, why it is of interest, research objectives and how the data will be acquired). Subsequently, students should meet with their supervisor regularly throughout the academic year. This is an independent project but supervisors can use their own research experience to offer advice about what is realistically achievable, and what might be particularly fruitful lines of enquiry given the time constraints. As such supervisors will provide guidance on background reading, and approaches to data collection, analysis and interpretation. Students should keep a working record of the development of their ideas, key points raised in discussions with their supervisor, details of data collection sessions and data analysis procedures, and sample/data curation information, all in a “lab-book” which is to be submitted with their written report. Final submission of the written project report, together with the oral and poster presentations, is in May.</p></div> <p>This course unit detail provides the framework for delivery in 20/21 and may be subject to change due to any additional Covid-19 impact. Please see Blackboard / course unit related emails for any further updates.</p></div><p> </p>
<div><div><p>This unit provides the opportunity for students to undertake a substantial independent research project on a subject that is of particular interest to them. This may be any subject within Environmental Sciences or Earth and Planetary Sciences provided that it is covered within the very broad range of expertise that members of DEES staff have, and provided that the Department has the facilities (or access to the facilities) that are required to acquire the data needed to address the project. With their supervisor’s assistance, students will design and plan the project, and will then acquire and interpret the datasets. They will document their data collection protocols and how they have curated their data in a ‘lab book’, and they will present their findings both in a written report, and also as oral and poster presentations delivered to an audience of staff and their fellow students.</p></div></div><p> </p>
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="2" rowspan="1"><em>On the successful completion of the course, students will be able to:</em></td> <td><em>Developed</em></td> <td><em>Assessed</em></td> </tr> <tr> <td>ILO 1</td> <td>design and carry out a research programme with achievable objectives to answer a specific research question within the broad area of Environmental Sciences or Earth and Planetary Sciences </td> <td>x</td> <td>x</td> </tr> <tr> <td>ILO 2</td> <td>collect appropriate observations/measurements in the field and/or laboratory, and document data collection protocols and data curation details in a “lab book”</td> <td>x</td> <td>x</td> </tr> <tr> <td>ILO 3</td> <td>assess critically the quality of their datasets and the limits on what can and cannot be said using them</td> <td>x</td> <td>x</td> </tr> <tr> <td>ILO 4</td> <td>appraise the significance of their results in the context of existing Environmental or Earth and Planetary Sciences literature</td> <td>x</td> <td>x</td> </tr> <tr> <td>ILO 5 </td> <td>summarize their findings in a written report of 10000-15000 words in length at a level appropriate for an academic who is acquainted with their subject area</td> <td>x</td> <td>x</td> </tr> <tr> <td>ILO 6</td> <td>explain their findings in oral and poster presentations that are accessible to an audience of their peers</td> <td> </td> <td>x</td> </tr> </tbody></table><p> </p>
<p>There is no syllabus. All students should meet regularly (e.g., once a fortnight) with their supervisors from the start of the academic year. At an early stage of the project, students should be planning to complete their primary data collection by the middle of Semester 2 to allow for equipment access difficulties and/or shifts in project focus. Supervisors will provide indicative progress milestones appropriate to the project</p>
<div> <p>This is a self-guided (with supervisory assistance) research project. The principal teaching process is via one-on-one student-supervisor meetings that should be held regularly throughout the academic year. Meetings to design and plan the project early in the academic year are very important. Feedback on the early oral presentation of project objectives will be given by the EART40031 course unit coordinator, and is useful in providing the impressions of an academic who is not connected with the project. Subsequent student-supervisor meetings offer scope to provide feedback on work completed to date, and to give advice about priorities for ongoing data collection and interpretation. It is not part of the normal supervisory role to read draft text of the written report but supervisors will provide feedback on an extended dissertation plan that lays out the logic flow of the report, provided that this is submitted to them in timely fashion.</p></div><p> </p>
3
Report
10%
4
Dissertation
80%
7
Oral assessment/presentation
10%
<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:500px;"> <tbody> <tr> <td>Assessment type</td> <td>Wighting within unit %</td> <td>Hand out and hand in dates</td> <td>Length</td> <td>How, when and what feedback is provided</td> <td>ILO tested</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Dissertation [summative]</td> <td>80%</td> <td>Two semesters to complete; submitted at the end of Week 12 of Semester 2</td> <td>~ 10000 words</td> <td>As an end-of-unit submission, no formal feedback will be given but students will be able to obtain feedback after the exam period by arrangement</td> <td>1, 2, 3, 4, 5</td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>Assignment</p><p>(‘Lab book’)</p><p>[summative]</p></td> <td>10%</td> <td>Two semesters to complete; submitted end of Week 12 of Semester 2</td> <td>No fixed length</td> <td>As an end-of-unit submission, no formal feedback will be given but students will be able to obtain feedback after the exam period by arrangement</td> <td>1, 2</td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>Oral +</p><p>Poster</p><p>Presentation</p><p>(individual)</p><p>[summative]</p></td> <td>10%</td> <td>Two semesters to complete; delivered in the week immediately after Week 12 Semester 2</td> <td>20 min + 2 hr</td> <td>As an end-of-unit submission, no formal feedback will be given but students will be able to obtain feedback after the exam period by arrangement</td> <td>6*</td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="6">*Inevitably ILOs 1-4 impact upon this assessment but the primary focus is on ILO 6</td> </tr> </tbody></table><p> </p>
MEarthSc(Hons)
MEarthSc(Hons)
Fourth Year
Mandatory
MEarthSci (H) Geo w Plan Sc
MEarthSci (H) Geo w Plan Sc
Fourth Year
Mandatory
M.Eng in Petroleum Engineering
M.Eng in Petroleum Engineering
Fourth Year
Mandatory
Y
<p>There is no reading list because reading is project-specific.</p>
Project supervision
20
Seminars
10
0
570