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Guidance Document for Project:

Environ= mental Science

Year 4 =

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Guidance Document for Project Work – Year 4 – Environmen= tal Science

Introduction

The fourth year project is one of the most important pieces of work undertaken in the entire four years of the degree programme and is likely to be the focus of attention by the external examin= er and/or potential employers.

The fourth year project is worth a total = of 20 credits out of a total of 60 credits for the year.

This means that the project should take up approximately one third of the total study time for fourth year.

In recognition of the importance of the project, you have been allocated two entire days, Monday and Tuesday each w= eek for project work until the end of first semester and one/two weeks in Janua= ry.

After laboratory work is completed, you h= ave until the middle of April to complete your write-up.

You are strongly encouraged therefore to = ensure that non-study activities or part-time work does not take from the time necessary to complete the project to an adequate standard and to ensure compliance with the various submission deadlines as set out in this documen= t.

To help ensure a successful outcome for y= our project, it is essential that you liaise regularly with your Supervisor. This should be agreed in advance w= ith your Supervisor and is likely to include a combination of some meetings and regular up-dates by email/Moodle. In addition, you will be required to submit a weekly report to your Supervisor outlining your progress to date.

You must also purchase and use a Proje= ct Notebook to record all aspects of your project work. This notebook should be used to ke= ep a record of all meetings, tasks completed, contacts made with third parties, sources of literature reviewed, experimental results etc.

You must submit your notebook with your f= inal project report and it will be taken into account when assessing your projec= t.

You have been issued with guidelines for = the preparation of a project report which you should read in its entirety as so= on as possible. If you have any queries regarding the guidelines for the preparation of a project report ask your Supervisor for clarification. Do this on an ongoing basis rather than = at the end of the process. Your supervisor will explain the standard lay out f= or the project and standardised referencing etc.

In addition, there are numerous very usef= ul publications and websites that will guide you through the task of carrying = out your research and writing up the project.

You are strongly advised (as a minimum) to check out the following website:

<= span lang=3DEN-IE style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-IE'>www.bioscience.heacademy.ac.= uk/hosted/gsp

Submission Deadlines

The various submission deadlines relating= to project work are set out in Table 1 below.=

These deadlines must be complied with in = all cases, as failure to comply will result in marks being deducted for the pro= ject work.

Table 1:= Project Timetable for 2009-2010

Date for this year 2009/10	Activity	Total Project Marks Awarded (%)
10am 16^th Nov. 2009	Submission of Project Plan and Draft Work Schedule
10am 7^th Dec. 2009=	Submission of Draft Literature Review
10 am 29^th Jan. 2010	Submission of Preliminary Report on Data Collected and analysis of same
10am 12^th Feb. 2010	Submission of Preliminary Findings and Conclusions
12pm Monday= 15^th Mar. 2010	Submission of Draft Final Report
	Completion of submission deadlines	Max 20% for completions to date
12 pm 19^th Apr. 2010	Submission of Final Report (See separate breakdown of the 70%)	Max 70%
Weekly, from November to April	Submission of Weekly Work Summary Sheets indicating progress in relation to the Work Schedule, any deviations from the Schedule with explanations and a plan of work for the following week<= /p>	Max 10%
		Total 100%

Project Plan and Draft Work Schedule

Having discussed the project with your Supervisor(s) and carried out some preliminary research, you should be in a position to present a short report to your Supervisor which sets out the following:

Ø= Explain the main aim(s) and specific obje= ctives of the project

Ø= Explain how these objectives will be achi= eved (what methods will be used and are these methods appropriate, realistic and achievable?)

Ø= What precautions will be taken against bias and/or error?

Ø= Establish what specific tasks have to be carried out and the sequence of the various tasks

Ø= Estimate how long each task and the entire project will take

Ø= Prepare a schedule for the entire project= which breaks the project down into numerous individual tasks and identifies the various outcomes - the minimum number of outcomes must include the delivera= bles for the activities set out in Table 1 using the same deadlines. =

There are a number of criteria that will = be used to assess the adequacy of the project plan and work schedule. These include:

· = Extent to which the aims = and objectives of the research are succinctly explained, are clear and unambigu= ous

· = Exte= nt to which the proposed methodology is explained and an appropriate rationale is given for the methodology

· = Exte= nt to which the overall task is broken down into the various sub-tasks, the appropriateness of the sub-tasks and their sequence

· = Exte= nt to which the schedule has been designed to assist the overall planning of the project and its use in parallel with the Weekly Work Summary Sheets that wi= ll be required to be submitted over the entire period of the project

· = Exte= nt to which your Supervisor has to modify the aims, objectives, methodology or schedule to enable you to complete the project.

This information must be presented to your Supervisor in a written report not later than 10am on Monday 16^th Nov. 2009. This document will be assessed and= will account for a part of complet= ion of submission deadlines marks.

Draft Literature Review

An essential component of the project is a review of the previously published literature that relates directly to your research topic. This is required to inform you of = the various issues associated with the project, to establish what is already known/accepted about the topic; to identify current problems/issues/unanswe= red questions/conflicting evidence; to identify fruitful areas of research and = to establish the scope of the research.

You should note however that the literatu= re review that is included in the final project is a relatively small componen= t of all of the literature that you have reviewed. Think of the literature revi= ew in terms of the reader of your project – what information do they need to enable them to understand your project, assuming that the reader has a reasonable level of knowledge already about the topic? Remember you are not producing a textbook on the subject and you are certainly not being asked to reproduce = or even summarise all of the information already in the public domain on the topic.

There are a number of criteria that will = be used to assess the adequacy of the literature review. These include:

· = Scop= e of the literature review – is it adequate in breadth and depth? In particular, check out relevant textbooks, previous research reports and dissertations, peer reviewed artic= les, professional reports prepared by or on behalf of various agencies etc, you should not rely solely on the internet. Remember to record all your referencing literature in the format = that you will use in the Reference section of your thesis, including internet sources

· = Rele= vancy of the literature review – is the information required by the reader = or used in other parts of the project report? – if not, do not include in the literature review

· = To w= hat extent is the review simply a list of publications or a “cut and paste” exercise? You wi= ll be expected to compare and contrast different sources of information on the to= pic and to apply some critical analysis to the information rather than a regurgitation of the original material

· = Extent to which linkages = have been drawn between the literature and the project design

· = Degree to which you have = been incisive about the topic – reviewed and researched.

The criteria outlined above will be used = in marking the literature review and it is most likely that reviews that are unfocused, excessively long and with insufficient critical analysis will receive a poor grade. The tot= al length of the literature review should typically not extend beyond 15 ̵= 1; 20 pages.

Even if your project involves a lot of laboratory work, you need to be aware and you need to demonstrate that you = have a good knowledge of the previously published literature relevant to the topic. Furthermore, a good knowledge of the literature on the topic may help in the design of experime= nts. For example, you may want to be able to compare your work with previous wor= k by others, but if you only become aware of this other work towards the end of = your experiments, it may then be too late to do anything about it.

It is essential therefore that the task o= f the literature review be undertaken at the earliest possible stage of the proje= ct before you have other assignments to complete for the taught subjects on the course.

The Draft Literature Review must be presented to your Supervisor in a written report not later than 10am on Mon= day 7^th December 2009.

Information that you find after the submi= ssion date for the draft literature review that is relevant to the topic may be included in the final project report, but this should be included in the We= ekly Work Summary Sheets submitted to your Supervisor.

Preliminary Report on Data Collected

Throughout the period from November to Ja= nuary, you will be collecting new information by way of experiments, surveys etc.<= o:p>

In the case of survey questionnaires, you= must submit a draft of all questionnaires to your Supervisor before they = are distributed. It is essential therefore that you allow adequate time (2 weeks) for the Supervisor to asse= ss the draft questionnaire. In a= ddition, you need to carry out some basic research in relation to the use of questionnaires for research purposes. Issues that typically arise include the format of the questionnaire,= the way in which questions are posed, the way in which people or organisations = are selected (how representative of the population being surveyed?), the extent= to which the answers from the respondents are representative of the population= and whether or not sound conclusions can be drawn from the results of the surve= y. It is always better to carry out a pilot survey prior to the main survey. T= his will allow you to rewrite/amend the questions and may highlight ambiguities= in either the questions or answers.

If you are carrying out a survey therefor= e, please refer to the literature in relation to the use of surveys in scienti= fic research and you may need to refer to some of this material in the literatu= re review.

If you are generating a lot of raw data f= rom your research, you need to consider how you are going to present this data.= Think of the readers of your report – they will not be as familiar with this data as you are and so it is essential that you present the data in such a manner that avoids confusion = or requires the readers to struggle to understand the data or the information = the data conveys.

What relevant statistical analysis can be applied to the data?

There are a number of criteria that will = be used to assess the adequacy of the results section. These include:

Extent to which hypotheses, = aims, and specific research questions have been tested
Extent to which the project = design was satisfactory
Extent to which results rela= te to questions posed
Clarity of presentation of r= esults
Appropriateness of format of results presentation (e.g. tables/graphs/etc)
Appropriateness of level of analysis – given data
Appropriateness of form of analysis
Extent to which patterns and trends in results are accurately identified and summarised
Extent to which a picture is= built up.

The Preliminary Report on Data Collected = must be presented to your Supervisor in a written report not later than 10am on Monday 29^th Jan. 2010. You are required to present your laboratory note book along with the preliminary report.

Preliminary Findings and Conclusions=

The research project does not finish with= the presentation of the results.

What is really critical is to try and asc= ertain what the results mean and what conclusions you have come to as a result of carrying out the research.

How do the results compare to what you ex= pected or to the results of other researchers?

Have you achieved the objectives of your research and/or have you raised additional questions that you did not have = at the start?

There are a number of criteria that will = be used to assess the adequacy of the findings and conclusions. These include:

· = Extent to which you are a= ware of possible limits to confidence/reliability/validity of the study

· = Degree to which the main = points from the results are discussed

· = Extent to which links are= made to the literature reviewed

· = Extent of demonstration of theory building

· = If speculation is attempt= ed, extent to which they are evidence based

· = Absence of reiteration of results without analysis – do not just repeat the results

· = Extent to which the resul= ts have been used in a clear fashion=

· = Extent to which extensive, well-based conclusions from the results have been drawn

The report on the Preliminary Findings and Conclusions must be presented to your Supervisor in a written report not la= ter than 10am on Monday 12^th Feb. 2010.

Draft Final Report<= /b>

The draft of the final report should be a self-contained report complete with table of contents, page numbers, referencing and all of the content as set out in the guidance document for = the final report.

The draft report will have taken account = of the feedback from your Supervisor and should have been fully read by you to ens= ure that all errors have been removed or corrected.
This will be your final opportunity to get feedback from your Supervisor prior to the submission of the final report. =

The Draft Final Report must= be presented to your Supervisor not later than 12pm on Monday 15^th = Mar. 2010.

Satisfactory completion of the submission deadlines will account for 20% of the total project marks.

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Final Report<= o:p>

The final report must be fully compliant = with the guidance document for the final report which you have already received. Three bound copies = must be submitted to the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Science, together with your Project Notebook and a completed and signed check= list indicating that you have complied with the various requirements set out in = the guidance documents.

There are a number of criteria that will = be used to assess the adequacy of the final report. These include:

The qua= lity of the abstract

The ove= rall argument presented in the report and the ext= ent to which it was cogent, coherent, logical, well analysed and critical

The extent to which the docu= ment works as a piece

Evidence of learning and reflection

Extent to which you improved= the final document after comments on the first drafts

The ove= rall presentation of the report, including grammar, quality of formatting, = and correct use of citations and references.

The deadline for the submission of the fi= nal report is not later than 12pm on Monday 19^th Apr. 2010. The document will be read and asse= ssed by two academic staff and is also likely to be read by the External Examiner for the course.

This document will be assessed and will a= ccount for 70% of the total project marks.

These marks are further broken down in a separate document.

If you are called for an interview with t= he External Examiner, it is virtually certain that the main focus of the inter= view will be the project which you will be asked to defend.=

Weekly Work Summary Sheets and Project Notebook

While the main output of the research pro= ject is the final report, there are some important learning outcomes achieved as= a result of the hundreds of hours of effort expended throughout the year, whi= ch cannot be adequately reflected in the mark for the final project report. It is essential therefore that you= can demonstrate the achievement of certain learning outcomes such as project planning, time management, independent working, ability to adapt in the lig= ht of changing circumstances etc.

The only record of these learning outcome= s will be in the Weekly Work Summary Sheets and Project Notebook. It is essential therefore that work summary sheets are submitted (by email) every week (Mon= day morning) to your Supervisor and the Project Notebook is maintained througho= ut the research period.

The work summary sheets need to record the following information as a minimum:

Brief description of the work carried out in the previous week

Compari= son between the work schedule and work completed in the past week, highlighting in particular, tasks that have been successfully completed and outputs achieved prior to the time schedule

Tasks t= hat have not been successfully completed or outputs achieved after the time schedule with a brief explanation for the delay, estimated revised completion dates and any modifications or implications for the overall schedule for the project

Plan fo= r work to be attempted and specific outcomes or deliverables for the coming w= eek.

The Project Notebook must be submitted wi= th the final written project.

These documents will be assessed and will account for 10% of the total project marks.