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 2 - 2024
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 Moodle reports
Limited student engagement with unit content and teaching staff.
Thesis preparation resources are available on Moodle, but there is little student engagement with unit content beyond information on assessment tasks. Unit Coordinator should consult with students at the start of term to determine their specific needs for thesis completion and provide updated resources in Moodle to address these needs.
Feedback from Written feedback from examiners' reports
Additional resources needed on communicating scientific research.
Unit Coordinator should provide further Moodle resources to assist students with preparing and delivering oral presentations for general audiences.
- 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)
- Zoom Video Conferencing platform
- EndNote (or similar bibliographical software). The use of EndNote (or similar software) to format your references is NOT mandatory but recommended.
- Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) or similar software such as Open Office
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing styles below:
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
e.bryson@cqu.edu.au
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Events and Submissions/Topic
Q&A Session Tuesday, 9 July 10:00-11:00am AEST
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Q&A Session Thursday, 1 Aug 6:00-7:00pm AEST
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Q&A Session Tuesday, 27 Aug 10:00-11:00am AEST
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Q&A Session Thursday, 19 Sep 6:00-7:00pm AEST
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Oral presentation PowerPoint slides are due Friday, 4 October 11:30pm AEST.
Presentations will be held via Zoom on Tuesday, 8 October.
Thesis Due: Week 12 Friday (4 Oct 2024) 11:30 pm AEST
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Four drop-in online Q&A sessions are scheduled throughout this term:
Week 1: Tuesday 9 July, 10:00-11:00am AEST
Week 4: Thursday 1 August, 6:00-7:00pm AEST
Week 7: Tuesday 27 August, 10:00-11:00am AEST
Week 10: Thursday 19 September, 6:00-7:00pm AEST
Attendance at these sessions is not compulsory; they are opportunities to ask questions about the assessments and get individual advice. In between these session times you are welcome to contact me via email (e.bryson@cqu.edu.au) if you need assistance. Please note that my communications should be in addition to, not replace, regular contact with your supervisor(s).
1 Written Assessment
A thesis summarising the work undertaken for Honours must be submitted as part of the requirements of the CG84 Bachelor of Science (Honours) course. Guidelines for preparing your thesis and a detailed marking rubric are provided on Moodle.
Week 12 Friday (4 Oct 2024) 11:30 pm AEST
Students will be advised of their results when marks have been received from all members of the marking panel. Please note this may take several weeks.
Detailed marking criteria for the thesis are available on Moodle. In general, the criteria for your thesis are:
- Critical analysis of scientific work and scholarly readings in your research area
- Adequate description and justification of the methodology used in the project
- Communication of the research to both specialist and non-specialist audiences, using appropriate terminology
- Appropriate data analysis and,
- Scholarly output is suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal 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:
- Highlight the aims and significance of your research;
- Describe the methodology including data collection and analysis;
- Present the results in a clear and concise manner;
- Discuss the findings in light of previous work in the area;
- Present your conclusions based on the study's findings; and
- 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 (20 minutes maximum question time - this is independent of the 20 minutes of time allocated for the presentation).
Presentations will be held via Zoom on Tuesday, 8 October. Please ensure you are familiar with screen sharing and presenting using Zoom for an effective presentation. A Zoom link and presentation schedule will be made available towards the end of term.
Review/Exam Week Tuesday (8 Oct 2024) 9:00 am AEST
You must submit your slides as a PowerPoint (.ppt or .pptx) or .pdf file by Friday 4 October, 11.30pm AEST. The presentation will then be conducted on the Tuesday of Review week (8 October) 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 are available on Moodle. The general criteria are:
- Quality of the oral presentation;
- Demonstrate comprehensive knowledge of the project;
- Demonstrate the significance and novelty of the project; and
- 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.
What can you do to act with integrity?
