Overview
During this unit you will complete and present your research project work as a thesis containing scientific scholarly works such as a manuscript intended for submission in peer-reviewed journals and/or industry reports, and as an oral thesis presentation and defense. Particular emphasis will be placed on succinct and clear presentations of background literature, project design, analytical methods, findings, conclusions and implications of your work, by written and oral means.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre-requisite: SCIH14001 Honours Preparation Pre-requisite: SCIH14002 Research Project A Co-requisite: SCIH14003 Research Project B
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2018
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 12-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 25 hours of study per week, making a total of 300 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Consultation with SHMAS staff and the Honours Course Committee
The "thesis defense" should be removed from the oral examination assessment.
The thesis defense is no longer a part of the oral examination. Students are still required to deliver a presentation at the end of term which is followed by questions from the examination panel and the audience, however there is no longer a private thesis defense associated with this assessment item.
Feedback from Informal feedback from students and Honours Course Committee members.
Informal online sessions should be run periodically throughout the term to allow students to ask questions about the assessments and receive answers in real time.
Informal online information sessions should be established and delivered through out the term.
- Describe and defend the application of relevant methodology to the design of a project
- Critically analyse scientific works and scholarly readings in your research area
- Communicate research to both specialist and non-specialist audiences, using terminology appropriate to the audience
- Prepare scientific scholarly outputs suitable for publication in peer-review journals or as an industry technical report
- Apply discipline specific analytical approaches to collected research data.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
1 - Written Assessment - 75% | |||||
2 - Oral Examination - 25% |
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
1 - Communication | |||||
2 - Problem Solving | |||||
3 - Critical Thinking | |||||
4 - Information Literacy | |||||
5 - Team Work | |||||
6 - Information Technology Competence | |||||
7 - Cross Cultural Competence | |||||
8 - Ethical practice | |||||
9 - Social Innovation | |||||
10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures |
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
1 - Written Assessment - 75% | ||||||||||
2 - Oral Examination - 25% |
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing styles below:
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
r.vella@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Scholarly output... constructing chapter 3 of your thesis.
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Events and Submissions/Topic
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Extending a discussion... constructing chapter 4 of your thesis.
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Re-reviewing literature... constructing chapter 2 of your thesis.
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A great introduction... constructing chapter 1 of your thesis.
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Telling a great story... Preparing for your final presentation.
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1 Written Assessment
You will prepare and submit a thesis which represents the volume and quality of work undertaken during your Honours degree. Details on the composition of the thesis are given on Moodle and you are advised to closely follow these guidelines.
Week 12 Friday (1 June 2018) 12:00 pm AEST
Students will be advised of their results when marks have been received from all members of the marking panel. Notably, this may take a couple of weeks.
Detailed marking criteria for the thesis are available on Moodle, however the general criteria are below.
In your thesis have you:
1) Critically analysed scientific work and scholarly readings in your research area?
2) Adequately described and justified the methodology used in the project?
3) Communicated the research to both specialist and non-specialist audiences, using appropriate terminology?
4) Analysed data appropriately?
and
5) Are scholarly outputs suitable for publication in peer-reviewed journals and/or as an industry technical report?
Thus, the whole of the thesis will be examined including the review of literature and scholarly outputs. You should work closely with your supervisors to ensure all criteria are met to the highest standard.
- Describe and defend the application of relevant methodology to the design of a project
- Critically analyse scientific works and scholarly readings in your research area
- Communicate research to both specialist and non-specialist audiences, using terminology appropriate to the audience
- Prepare scientific scholarly outputs suitable for publication in peer-review journals or as an industry technical report
- Apply discipline specific analytical approaches to collected research data.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Team Work
- Information Technology Competence
- Ethical practice
2 Oral Examination
You will prepare and deliver an oral presentation and receive questions from the marking panel and general audience. The oral presentation will be no more than 20 minutes in duration, and will:
1) Highlight the aims and significance of your research;
2) Describe the methodology including data collection and analysis;
3) Present the results in a clear and concise manner;
4) Discuss the findings in light of previous work in the area;
5) Present your conclusions based on the study's findings; and
6) Offer any implications arising from the work.
Immediately following the presentation, the marking panel will be given the opportunity to ask questions and follow up on any items that require further explanation, to inquire about how you might further promote your findings or how your work will inform future studies. The general audience will also be given the opportunity to ask questions if time permits after the marking panel have finished (15 minutes maximum question time - this is independent of the 20 minutes of time allocated for the presentation).
Presentations will be primarily conducted on the Rockhampton campus, with videoconference links to other campuses as required. If you do not have reasonable access to a local campus you may request to use ZOOM videoconference facilities to deliver your presentation. The final decision will be at the discretion of the unit coordinator, and if pursuing this option, you should make this request via email no later than the Friday of week 5 so arrangements for campus room bookings cam be made in a timely manner.
Review/Exam Week Monday (4 June 2018) 8:00 am AEST
You must submit your slides as a powerpoint or pdf file by 8.00am on the due date. The presentation will then be conducted on the Monday of Review week and will be on the same day as initial presentations for the students entering the honours course, to help build a research culture within the School. The date of the presentation is non-negotiable.
Students will be notified of their grades once all marks have been received and collated from the marking panel.
Detailed marking criteria for the final presentation and private discussion are available on Moodle, however the general criteria are;
1) Quality of the oral presentation;
2) Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of the project;
3) Demonstrate the significance and novelty of the project; and
4) Deduce appropriate conclusions from the experimental work.
You should work closely with your supervisors to ensure all criteria are met to the highest standard.
- Describe and defend the application of relevant methodology to the design of a project
- Critically analyse scientific works and scholarly readings in your research area
- Communicate research to both specialist and non-specialist audiences, using terminology appropriate to the audience
- Apply discipline specific analytical approaches to collected research data.
- Communication
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
- Information Technology Competence
- Cross Cultural Competence
- Ethical practice
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.