Technology Research Preparation Assessments -
Assessment 1 - Building Research Skills
Task: Students will demonstrate their increasing mastery of foundational research skills through the completion of short tasks each week in their tutorial class and/or as homework, and through constructive participation in class discussions and student presentations.
Example Deliverables for Students:
1. Critical evaluation of the suitability to the student's research of an IT industry or academic article (Professional Stream) or academic article (Research Stream).
2. Reference List entries in correct UTS Harvard format, for Research Stream created by the student using bibliographic software such as EndNote.
3. Correct citations using UTS Harvard author/date format.
4. Executive Summary (Professional Stream) or Abstract (Research Stream) summarizing the student's research.
5. Demonstrated ability to present informally on one's research.
6. Demonstrated ability to formulate questions, make informed comment or provide supportive feedback to the student presenters during each of the Presentation weeks.
Assessment 2 - Literature-Based Report
Length: 2,500-3,000 words.
Aim: This assignment provides students with the opportunity to locate existing information on the topic and begin writing about it in an organized and logical way. The assignment will provide Professional Stream students with the necessary background for Assessment 4 Project Proposal, and will give Research Stream students valuable feedback to prepare them for their full Literature Review in Assessment 4.
The assignment will be in the form of a report which synthesizes information from a minimum of 10 high quality texts that you have read. Professional Stream students should select these from both industry and academic sources, while Research Stream students must search a minimum of 3 academic journal databases for journal articles and conference papers, although academic books and book chapters are also welcome. The assignment tests your ability to evaluate the quality of the articles and their suitability for the context in which you are researching (the IT industry for Professional Stream students, the academic context for Research Stream students). You will demonstrate your writing skills (paraphrasing, synthesis, the logical organization of ideas, critical analysis, proofreading and editing) using your own words as far as possible, and correctly citing all work drawn from other writers, whether paraphrased or quoted directly. Additionally, you will need to show your ability to create a reference list and your mastery of in-text citation. Research Stream students must create their reference list using bibliographic software such as EndNote (optional for Professional Stream students).
The Report should consist of the following sections:
1) Title Page, Table of Contents (and a List of Figures and Tables, if relevant) and Introduction to the topic, each beginning on a separate page.
2) Critical Evaluation of the Sources: take 2 of your articles and evaluate their suitability for your research according to commonly accepted criteria, e.g., relevance, reliability, accuracy, lack of bias, timeliness and completeness.
3) Literature Review: present your viewpoint on the topic with support from the literature. This section should be organized into sub-sections with appropriate headings and demonstrate a logical progression of ideas in terms of its structure and the links between subsections.
4) Conclusion should sum up your key findings from the literature and describe the implications of these findings for your future research.
5) Reference List should include all articles and other sources referred to in the report. Research Stream students should generate this using EndNote or similar software.
6) Appendix will include a printout of the first screen of the search results from 3 sources that you used in finding references for your research. The 3 printouts should each include at least one of the articles that appear in your Reference List.
- For Professional Stream students, at least 1 of the printouts should be from an industry source (e.g., reports from government, NGOs, industry, or market research companies; ICT industry or business magazines and journals; white papers); and at least 1 from the academic journal databases accessible from the UTS Library website.
- For Research Stream students, the printouts must all come from 3 academic journal databases accessible from the UTS Library website.
Assessment 3 - Research Presentation
Task: Students will present the findings of their Assessment 4, or as much of the Assessment 4 research as they have completed at the time of the presentation. It is expected that students will prepare presentation slides to support their presentation and should be able to answer up to 3 questions from the audience. Some tips:
Introduce yourself and your topic clearly (make sure the audience has time to take this in by leaving the Introductory slide up for a while - many students rush this too much and the audience doesn't know who or what they are listening to).
Be selective about the content you include: you won't get it all in, so pick out the essentials or the most interesting things you found out. Do not rush!
Terminate the presentation in an appropriate way so the audience knows when you have finished, e.g., 'Thank you for listening to my presentation... [speaker pauses - rousing applause] Are there any questions?'
Students should rehearse their presentation at least twice in order to be confident enough to present the material well. Rehearsals will also allow you to time your presentation.
Develop a strategy for cutting to your conclusion, should you run out of time:
- Professional Stream: teams should take turns as time keeper, with pre-arranged signals to the student speaking at the time.
- Research Stream: pre-arrange with a friend in the audience to give you time signals, for example a 5 and 1 minute warning.
Remember that your audience will be your fellow students, so try to make it interesting for them. Use graphics, diagrams, tables, humour, etc. Avoid 'death by bullet point'.
Remember that not all students are as expert as you on data mining, wireless technologies or knowledge management strategies. So aim it for an audience of ICT professionals who have a wide range of specific expertise and interests.
Assessment 4: Professional Stream Project Proposal
Length: 10-12 pages
Aim: The purpose of the Project Proposal is to develop students' ability to identify a significant research problem applicable to the industry context, to add depth to their knowledge and understanding of a field in which they are interested, and to design a method for addressing the question. The Project Proposal is expected to show that students are engaging in genuine enquiry and investigating something worthwhile. It links your proposed work with existing knowledge, ideas, facts, technologies and solutions relevant to the topic. It should lay the way (being suitable and executable) for the Research Project in the later semester, which is compulsory or optional depending on your degree.
The Project Proposal should be in the form of an industry report and contain the following elements:
Cover Page - Identify the topic, name and Student ID of students in the team, institution and degree.
Table of Contents - Provide a table of contents listing sections of the Proposal in a hierarchy of titles and subtitles, with page references.
Executive Summary - Provide a succinct summary of the main points of your Proposal.
Introduction - The Introduction should introduce your research problem clearly and provide the necessary context; state the aim of the research; establish your point of view or position on the research problem; clearly communicate the importance of the research study for industry generally and/or for a particular organization; concisely state your main findings; and briefly give the reader an overview of how the report is organized.
Research Aims and Objectives - Describe clear and simple research aims and objectives in language appropriate to industry stating what you intend to achieve through your proposed research project. Remember to focus your research aims and try to narrow your topic into something that will be achievable.
Background - Write a Background to the research problem, summarizing and if necessary adding to the Literature Based Report (Assessment 2) prepared earlier. The purpose of the Background is to provide a rationale/justification for the research proposed. You will critically synthesize and evaluate existing knowledge and relevant facts with reference to sources of high quality information, such as reports from government, NGOs, industry or market research companies; ICT industry or business magazines and journals; white papers; books and book chapters. You may also include academic journal articles and conference papers. Cite sources of information using UTS Harvard style.
Research Significance and Innovation
- Firstly, explain the significance of the research and the importance of the problem, with justification from the Background. Identify how the research will improve ICT knowledge, technical capability and/or practice.
- Secondly, highlight the benefits to society or industry from your proposal research. From a social or business perspective, why is it important to solve the problem you have identified?
- Thirdly, describe the innovation of your proposed research project. How is it new? How will it contribute in some novel way to the operations of a company or to ICT knowledge generally? Will it improve existing technologies or approaches? Justify your claims with reference to the Background.
Research Methods - Describe research method(s) appropriate to investigate your topic and throw light on the research problem. Justify your choices in relation to your research problem:
- Define the activities your team will undertake.
- Is your research design fixed or flexible?
- Are your research techniques going to yield qualitative or quantitative data?
- What overall approach would you use to carry out your project (e.g., case study, field study, design research, field experiment, laboratory experiment, action research)?
- What specific techniques would you use (e.g., survey, interviews, focus groups, measurements of performance, website hits, log file analysis).
- How will you measure progress and what constitutes success, i.e., how will you know when you have succeeded in achieving the research objectives?
Conclusion - Write a logical Conclusion to what has previously been presented in the Proposal. It must pull together and discuss all parts of your argument and refer the reader back to the research problem you have outlined in your Introduction and to the research problem.
Reference List - Include an alphabetical list of references in correct UTS Harvard style of all sources cited in the Project Proposal.
Assessment 4: Research Stream Literature Review
Length: Minimum 4,000 words
Aim: This assignment gives students the opportunity of writing a complete Literature Review for their Thesis and builds on the Literature-Based Report completed earlier. (Obviously, you may read more as you proceed through your research degree and add to or modify the Literature Review that is finally submitted at the end of your candidature, but this will be a good foundation).
The Literature Review will be in the form of a research report and should consist of the following sections:
Title - Give a brief Title of your Thesis which describes its contents clearly.
Table of Contents - Provide a ToC listing the sections of your report in a hierarchy of titles and subtitles, with page references.
Abstract - Write a complete and succinct Abstract of the contents of your report, including your main findings from the Literature.
Introduction - Write an Introduction to the Literature Review which introduces your research problem and briefly provides a clear context understandable to any IT academic (this person may or may not be expert in the particular field which you are researching). The Introduction should state the research question(s) clearly by referring briefly to the gap(s) in the Literature; limit the scope of your research; establish your point of view/position/thesis on the research question; clearly communicate the importance and relevance of the study; concisely state your main finding(s) from the Literature; and give the reader an overview of how the report is organized.
Literature Review - Write a Literature Review referring to at least 20 high quality texts (journal articles, conference papers, books or book chapters). These texts should be suitable for use in an academic context. This section should be organized into sub-sections with appropriate headings and demonstrate a logical progression of ideas in terms of its structure and the links between subsections. The Literature Review synthesizes the information from the different sources that you have used, critically evaluating the existing state of published knowledge. You will need to clearly identify one or more gaps in the literature in order to justify your research questions. The Literature Review also justifies your thesis or point of view on the topic, and provides a compelling argument as to why your chosen area of research is of importance.
Conclusion - Sum up your key findings from the Literature and describe the implications of these findings for your future research. This section should look forward to the Research Methods section in which you will present the method(s) by which you will attempt to answer the research question(s).
Reference List - Include an alphabetical list of references in correct UTS Harvard style of all sources cited in the report.
Attachment:- Assignment File.rar