Computer Science

On this module, you will get an introduction to the methods used in scientific research, including finding research articles, critical review, peer review, presentation skills and literature synthesis. In the lectures, there is a strong emphasis on student engagement, and you should be prepared to stand up in front of the class and discuss things you have read.


As well as delivering summaries of papers, you and your fellow students will prepare and run two conferences in which each student will talk about a scientific topic of their choice for 10 minutes. There is also a creative element, and you will be required to design a poster using papers from the literature.


Your research proposal must be different to that in ECMM131.

The aim of the module is to introduce you to some of the soft skills you need to carry out research, such as communication, literature review and critical thinking. Because of the mix of different subjects, it is not possible to cover hard skills such as statistical analysis, because individual students will have a different baseline and have varying requirements for their work.

On successful completion of this module, you should be able to:


Module Specific Skills and Knowledge:
1 critically appraise published research results;
2 demonstrate improved soft skills required for research.
Discipline Specific Skills and Knowledge:
3 assess research in mathematics, computer science and engineering.
Personal and Key Transferable / Employment Skills and Knowledge:
4 read, appraise and present research results critically.
 

- introduction: what is research, why research, what is original, research ethics and integrity, copyright and plagiarism;
- research process: description and analysis of all major steps from formulating a problem to presenting results;
- literature survey: sources of information, efficient and effective literature search (library/internet/other), critical reading and assessment, writing a literature review, referencing (styles, software);
- research problem formulation: research strategy (questions, objectives, hypothesis) and research design (definitions and functions);
- data analysis: general (planning the analysis, use of statistical theory, mathematical models), quantitative methods (non)parametric statistical tests, regression) and qualitative methods (analysis of interviews, questionnaires and focus group results);
- presentation of research results: writing papers and dissertations; doing oral presentations;
- planning and managing research projects: managing time, mapping your project, dealing with people and institutions, sharing responsibility, etc;
- what is research proposal, typical proposal content, guidelines for writing up different sections of a typical proposal, proposal assessment criteria/process, funding bodies and types of proposals;
- advanced methods.

The module is assessed entirely by coursework, all referred/deferred assessments be by assignment.
 

ELE http://vle.exeter.ac.uk

Reading list for this module: