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14th June 2013
The Aug. 2013 Fri. 9/08/13 (2pm single slot), Mon. 12/08/13 and Tues. 13/08/13 AMI MSc Project Presentations, Vivas & Demos
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MSc
Project Guidelines
- Introduction
- Sources of advice on writing and making a presentation
- Project definition and approval
- Project plan & schedule
- Research
- Interim report
- Dissertation
- Seminar presentation
- Viva voce examination
- Project implementation
Useful Links
- Library and online resources
- Plagiarism and how to avoid it
- University policy on plagiarism
- Module specification for MSc Project
Introduction
The MSc Project is the element of the course that distinguishes a Masters degree from a Postgraduate Diploma. It is rated at 60 credits and is expected to involve 600 hours of work.
Choosing and agreeing a project can be a lengthy process. If at all possible, the topic of the project should be related to your employment because that will ensure relevance of the learning and a certain level of local support. However, the project should not be too critical to your job as this can bring other pressures and limit the scope to explore the wider context. Bear in mind also that most software at the university is licenced for education use only. Projects that take a design right through to silicon are especially welcome and the course has budgeted to support a limited number of designs through Europractice.
Subject to the points just mentioned, it is quite acceptable for the practical work of the project to overlap with your day-to-day work and indeed for it to be carried out at your place of work. In all cases the aspects of the project that are assessed will demand considerable additional input away from work.
Once the topic of the project has been agreed, an academic supervisor will be assigned. Where the project is relevant to your work we expect your employer to assign an industrial mentor who will take a close interest in what you are doing and give advice and support. Please discuss this with your line manager and then let your academic supervisor know who is to take on the role. The academic supervisor will take responsibility for the assessment and for ensuring the criteria for academic rigour are met, while the industrial mentor should help ensure that suitable resources are available for the work to be completed in the planned timescale. This arrangement generally works well, but it is not obligatory. We recognise there are sometimes good reasons to keep the MSc project work separate from the employer.
It would be normal to contact the academic supervisor weekly or fortnightly throughout the project and more frequently whenever a piece of assessed work is being prepared. Any opportunity to meet in person or by video is to be encouraged. Unlike the taught modules, it is normal practice to submit a first draft of each piece of assessed work to the supervisor for comment and then rework it before submitting the final version. In the case of the dissertation, many revisions may be necessary. For this reason the dissertation should not be hard bound until after the viva voce has taken place and any changes discussed in the viva voce have been made.
The work of the project involves a number of separate elements which are designed to assess abilities in planning, research, investigation, analysis, design and communications (both oral and written). These elements are shown in bold in the diagram below.
| Stages of the MSc Project: Assessed elements are shown in bold |
|---|
| Initial idea put forward as a project proposal | |
After determining the subject of the project and receiving agreement to proceed, the first task is to produce a project plan. An interim report is compiled when a substantial amount of the project work has been completed. When the investigation is complete, the complete work of the project is written down in a formal dissertation. A summary of the work is presented to a small audience in a seminar presentation (which may be conducted by videoconference call). Wider issues raised by the project are discussed with two academics in the viva voce examination. The viva voce examination can sometimes take place on the same day as the seminar presentation (and it may likewise be conducted by videoconference call). The entire work of the project receives a mark for "project implementation".
The weightings for each of the six assessed elements are as follows:
| Project Element | Weighting |
|---|---|
| Project plan and schedule | 5% |
| Interim report | 10% |
| Project implementation | 25% |
| Dissertation | 40% |
| Seminar presentation | 10% |
| Viva voce examination | 10% |
IMPORTANT: Warning about Plagiarism
Copying from any source (textbook, website or other student) without making it clear this has been done is known as plagiarism and is regarded as a serious offence which may lead to expulsion from the university.
Avoiding plagiarism means being aware of the issues and then being honest and fair to your sources. It is essential that you read the two items on plagiarism, both of which are linked from "Useful Links" at the top of this page.
Sources of Advice on Writing Reports and Making a Presentation
The Learning Support and Development Unit publishes a set of booklets offering advice on study skills, writing reports and giving presentations. The booklets, are available in print from the unit and can be downloaded in pdf format. The four titles described in the table below are particularly relevant to the MSc project.
| Booklet | Description |
|---|---|
Bissto Bolton Study Skills Tutorials On Line |
On line presentations covering the required skills for students including
Worth reviewing
http://data.bolton.ac.uk/bissto/
Try the index for information on specific topics |
| Writing: the Basics (2006), David Rudd | A guide to grammar, punctuation, spelling and style, ending with a
list of books in the library for further reading. Includes ingenious
ways to remember how to spell problem words, and uses every device to
make a dry subject palatable, for example how to pronounce "ghoti".
Recommended reading for all of us |
| Report Writing - a guide to organisation and style (2005), David Rudd | This guide is set out in the style of an academic report and thereby illustrates every point as it is made. Starting with the title, it advises on what should be included in each section of a typical academic report. The guide also advises on style and presentation, including numbering systems and conventions of page layout (see section 2.2.3). The Harvard system of referencing (which is advised for technical reports) is employed throughout and ingeniously takes the reader to a genuinely useful bibliography. The guide omits just one item that would normally be included in a dissertation: the acknowledgements. Essential reading. This guide will answer many of your questions; implementing its recommendations from the outset will save time for you and your supervisor. |
| Preparing for Disserations and Projects , David Rudd | A guide on Dissertations and reports that should be read by all, particularly my undergraduates ( Neil Cole).
|
| Cite Me, I'm Yours - Harvard Version. References, bibliographies, notes, quotation, etc. (2005), David Rudd Numeric Version download pdf file
|
Every project must include an element of literature search
and review. Consequently the interim report and dissertation will
need to include a list of references. This guide tells you how
to do it - very thoroughly. Running to 19 pages, it covers everything you can think of, and more. For example, page 3 explains how references from the web are considered to be "ephemeral" (likely to disappear) and therefore you must keep an electronic copy of any such references used. As a minimum, you must read the first three pages. |
| Giving a Presentation (2004) David Rudd | The guide first focuses on three components of the presentation:
the presenter, the material and the audience. The heading "Frequently
asked questions" includes useful advice on seminar presentations and
how oral presentations are assessed. The guide finishes with a
list of relevant books held by the library, for further reading.
Highly recommended |
Your local university or HE college library is likely to stock many books
on writing reports and giving presentations. If you are based in the UK
and have not already made arrangements to borrow books from them, now would
be a good time to investigate the "UK Libraries Plus" scheme which gives
distance learning students in the UK reciprocal borrowing facilities from
their local library. For details, refer to Library
and online resources.
Project Definition and Approval
Before arriving at the topic for your project there will be many factors to be considered, including personal interests, career aspirations, the interests of your employer and any cost implications. From the academic perspective there are only three requirements, as follows:
- There must be scope to conduct a review of the the present "body of knowledge" in the chosen area of investigation. This is most likely to be a literature search and review, but it could be a product review or business feasibility study, or perhaps something else.
- There must be some aspect of the project that defines it as being at masters level. Usually it will be an element of investigation, design, development or analysis that justifies the award of MSc.
- The topic of the project must be relevant to the title of the MSc. i.e. either Advanced Microelectronics or Electronic Product Development.
When you have an idea, think how it could be developed so that the three aspects listed above are covered. Then go to the project proposal form and enter a description of the project and the resources required. The MSc Project committee will be alerted that a new entry has been made and will discuss your proposal and reply with comments and recommendations.
The database of projects includes many suggested by the academic staff. If you don't have a project in mind, look through the others that have been suggested. The list includes projects that have been completed because they often prompt ideas for further work.
Routes to Silicon (only relevant to MSc Advanced Microelectronics)
Projects that take a design right through to fabrication are especially welcome and the course has budgeted to support a limited number of designs through Europractice. Many sub-micron processes are available but you will need to work closely with the staff to make sure the appropriate libraries are loaded within Cadence. If a project demanded a particularly expensive process or was excessive in terms of the area required or packaging costs then, depending on the circumstances, a contribution to the costs might need to be agreed in advance. As before, if the project was evidently being undertaken as part of a company's normal R&D activity, then the full cost would need to be passed on.
Further advice in this area is to be found by downloading the Word document "Taking a Design to Silicon"
Commercial licences
We recognise that in some cases the investigation forming the MSc project may be relevant to the company and in some cases will potentially be of significant commercial benefit. However, the software available remotely from Bolton is licensed for educational use only. Where it is required to be used in a project that has a clear commercial outcome, it will be necessary for us to contact the software vendors and obtain a quote for a commercial licence for the specific packages required, for whatever period you specify. When this information is available you will need to discuss with your employer whether to proceed on the basis of the cost quoted.
Useful Tips
Make notes daily
Even at the early stage you should start keeping careful notes
of all work on the project. Some people like to keep a daily log book;
others find an electronic means of doing the same thing. A detailed
record of ideas and decisions taken - even the negative ones - will be invaluable
when it comes to writing the dissertation. All work that has been
carried out thoroughly is of value and sometimes results that appeared to
be disappointing at the time turn out to be more significant later.
Your supervisor is likely to base some of the marks for implementation on
the way you have kept notes, so start now, in the planning stage, and keep
it going throughout every stage of the project.
Start writing up early on
Some students set up a "skeleton" of their dissertation on a wordprocessor
early on. Then, as each milestone in the project plan is reached,
they stop work and write up what has happened up to that point. In
this way the bulk of the dissertation has already been written by the time
the implementation phase of the project is complete.
Commercial Confidentiality
Where the topic of an MSc project is confidential to your employer, a confidentiality agreement should be signed in advance by a representative of the academic institution. This agreement will cover all staff employed by the institution and the External Examiner. (A pro forma agreement is available from the CET Postgraduate Programmes Office).
All printed material relating to a project that is subject to a confidentiality agreement should be clearly marked as such on the first page. All media carrying an electronic copy must also be marked as such.
The hard bound copy that would normally have been made freely available in the library will instead be retained by the Academic Supervisor.
It is possible that text of a dissertation resulting from a confidential
project may be worded in such a way that it is not confidential. In
these cases, the notices should explain that the work was so covered but
the written material is unrestricted. Please check with your Industrial
Supervisor that this is acceptable before submitting the dissertation.
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
There are likely to be four parties involved in each project:
- the student
- the student's employer
- the Academic Supervisor
- the supervising institution (the university)
The default arrangement is that all rights to discoveries, designs or developments made during a student project belong to the supervising institution. If this is unacceptable, an IPR agreement should be drawn up and signed at the start of the project before any work is carried out. A pro-forma agreement is available from the CET Postgraduate Programmes Office for the purpose.
Where a project is related to your employment, it may be expected that the employer will want to claim all the IPR for the work, especially if the project is being carried out in company time and using company facilities.
Where you propose your own project, there will need to be some negotiation which will take account of the extent of resources to be used and the perceived value of the expected outcome It is important that agreement is reached before work starts because, as already stated, the default is that the academic institution will claim all the IPR rights. Some arrangement to share rights may be acceptable to both parties.
Where the Academic Supervisor has proposed the project, the IPR will reside with the academic institution unless something different has already been negotiated, i.e. the default situation applies.
Project Plan & Schedule
The purpose of the project plan is to ensure that the project is thought through, planned and agreed with the supervisor before the bulk of the time and effort is committed. The plan should summarise the result of an initial analysis and define the tasks to be completed and the timescales involved. Once agreed, the plan forms a framework against which to measure progress; it will help you to bring the project to a successful conclusion within the planned timescale. The plan should start with a title page and contain at least five sections as follows:
Aim
A precise statement of what is to be achieved; no more than two or three
sentences.
Background
Explanation of how the project has come about, putting it in the context
of previous work, problems or new expertise to be developed. This should
be several paragraphs in length but should avoid going into too much detailed
technical discussion.
Specification
The specification should include an indication of the main tasks to be completed.
Plan and schedule
Describe here the approach to be taken, i.e. how you are going to
go about it. This section is likely to be in three parts: an
overview, a description of the individual tasks, and then a Gantt
chart showing the duration of each element, how they relate to one
another, and milestones.
The plan is likely to define periods of literature search, learning new software, ideas generation, "development freeze" stages and writing the dissertation. Realistic time periods should be allocated for each task showing that adequate consideration has been given to addressing the difficulties of each. Where appropriate, tasks can be shown running in parallel. As a "rule of thumb", allow 3 months for the planning, literature search and review, 3 months for the investigation or design and 3 months for writing up the dissertation and delivering the seminar presentation.
Assessment
The project plan will be assessed by the supervisor and one other person.
Marks will be awarded for each of the items required, weighted as shown
below.
| Assessed Item | Marks Allocated |
|---|---|
| Aim - is it precise? | 10% |
| Background details - are they sufficient? | 20% |
| Specification - is it adequate and complete? Have costings and funding been addressed satisfactorily? |
30% |
| Plan and schedule - is the plan complete? Are the durations shown
and the milestones realistic? Is the outcome likely to meet the stated aim of the project? |
40% |
Literature Research and Review
Advice on access to libraries and electronic resources is to be found in the pages on library Be sure to read the section on online resources and download the "Guide to Electronic Information Sources in Engineering". It explains the techniques for conducting online searches for articles specific to your interest from books, journals etc.
In some cases abstracts from online documents will help identify useful journal articles that are held as paper copies. Copies of the paper journals can then be requested, either direct from the library at Bolton or through inter-library loan (again via Bolton).
The assessed items of the literary research and review are detailed in the interim report.
The Interim Report
The purpose of the interim report is twofold:
to review progress on the earlier parts of the project and receive some
formal feedback at this point.
- To ensure a start is made on writing up the work. Nearly all the text of the interim report can be re-used later within the dissertation. Implementing any feedback on presentation and style at this stage will save time making corrections to the dissertation later and should lead to higher marks.
- Preparing a good interim report will remove much of the stress of writing the dissertation. Most of the headings suggested in below in the section on the dissertation can be employed in the interim report although the abstract and conclusions would not normally be included at this stage.
Title Page
Contents
1. Introduction Introduce the report. See article by Rudd*
2. Background.
Introduce the subject and indicate the state of the art at the moment.
3. Progress report.
Explain what has been accomplished so far, and what remains to be done.
Summarise your literature research, and any work on specifications,
system design, sub-system design, etc.
If the project is mainly investigative, then describe the research to date
and any new leads found.
Explain the plan from here on.
4. Interim Results (if any at this stage)
5. Analysis (if any at this stage)
References
Appendices
Assessment
| Assessed Item | Marks Allocated |
|---|---|
| Presentation & Style Is the material as a whole presented in a clear and well-structured way, reflected in the contents page? Is the design consistent throughout, including use of fonts, styles, labelling of graphs, figures, etc? Is the use of graphs, diagrams and tables sufficient and appropriate? Are spelling and grammar to a good standard? |
60% |
| Continuous assessment to date Has progress to date been as expected in the project plan? (Project management) How have any unforeseen problems or developments been handled? Have any components or other purchases with a long lead time been ordered? What has been done so far? (Project implementation) |
40% |
Seminar Presentation
The seminar presentation is a forum for sharing and discussing your work with a small audience of tutors and other students. You should prepare a presentation lasting no more than 15 minutes and then discuss aspects raised from the presentation for about 5 minutes. Seminar presentations may be held at the University of Bolton or may be delivered by videoconferencing to either of those sites. If you require the use of a video projector, lap-top PC or internet connection, remember to mention this to your supervisor beforehand as they may need to be booked in advance.
Remember that your audience knows nothing at all about the project. You must start by telling them about the aims, the background, and then the overall structure of the project. Then tell them where you are up to in terms of your project schedule this will also give the opportunity to summarise what went well and what unexpected problems have had to be overcome. It is vital to set the scene carefully at the beginning as otherwise the audience will be lost from the outset. Resist the temptation to go into great detail or concentrate on the latest problem, but be prepared to explain the detail if required in questions after the presentation.
In Giving a Presentation (see above), David Rudd suggests deliberately leaving a few obvious loose ends to encourage the audience to ask questions. You will of course have prepared some answers, and maybe some extra material to address such questions. The key to giving a good presentation is undoubtedly in the preparation. If you have rehearsed a few times, it is likely to go smoothly on the day.
Assessment
The seminar presentation will be assessed as in the table below.
A course leader and one other person will provide grades separately to the
course co-ordinator who will then query any major discrepancies and reach
a consensus. Normally the two assessors will not be familiar with the project.
| Assessed Item | Marks Allocated |
|---|---|
| Preparation and content Planning, organisation, sequencing, use of aids, prepared hand-outs or slides, etc. Suitability of content: introduction, aim, background, details of the design or investigation, results, analysis, conclusions, suggestions for further work and comments on the way the project progressed etc. |
50% |
| Delivery Appropriate language, clarity, volume, tone, articulation, emphasis, pace, timing, etc. Posture, gesture, facial expression, eye contact, mannerisms, etc. |
50% |
Dissertation
The dissertation should contain a full description of the project. As well as providing the formal written evidence for the examiner, it is intended to serve as a reference publication for anyone in future who wants to develop some part of the work or benefit from the knowledge presented. The dissertation should therefore contain a full and detailed description of the project (including activities that proved fruitless), a description of any specialist skills developed and recommendations for further work. Diagrams, tables, images and flow charts should be included wherever they help to explain the subject. Where software has been developed as part of the project, it is normal to present the full program listings, but within an appendix rather than in the main part of the dissertation. Such an appendix can be either in printed form or in electronic form (floppy disk or CD-ROM). Standard theory or designs that are found in basic texts should not be repeated in the report.
The dissertation should be typed on paper size A4 with a larger line spacing than normal (e.g. x 1½) giving about 250 words per page. There is no set minimum or maximum size but most dissertations are of the order 60 - 120 pages plus anything from 0 to 200 pages of appendices. If the dissertation is stretching appreciably beyond 100 pages, it probably needs cutting back or parts of the text should be moved to an appendix.
The dissertation is normally printed single sided, but if the total number of pages (including all appendices) exceeds about 200, it may be better to print it double sided, though this is not a requirement. Margins should be set to accommodate the binding, typically 40 mm for the left hand margin and 20 mm for the right hand margin.
After the viva, when any corrections, modifications or additional work required have been completed, the final version of the dissertation is submitted as an electronic copy (e.g. on CD-ROM), with a second copy as a back-up. These copies should contain the files for any transient references such as web pages.
It is traditional to have one or more copies of the dissertation bound in hard covers, and at one time it was a requirement that the university should keep such a copy in the library. This requirement has since been relaxed in favour of the electronic copy. The Library and Learning Resources Centre still provides a binding service and details are on their website. At the time of writing (2007) the contact is Lisa McLellan, tel. 01204 903092 and the standard cost is £32.50 for each volume, inclusive of gold lettering down the spine. An extra charge is made for lettering on the front cover.
The inside title page should be of the form:
| University of Bolton Advanced Microelectronics An ASIC Implementation of a Domestic Fire Detector Incorporating Automatic Over-ride by Cooker and Toaster Appliances under Conditions of Correct Usage by A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements
of the University of Bolton for the degree of Master of Science. |
Suggestions for what should be included under each heading follow. Please refer also to David Rudd's paper, Report Writing - a guide to organisation and style, mentioned above.
Throughout the dissertation there may be reference to supporting items
such as books, articles, websites or CD-ROMs. Each should be identified
by the author and date using the Harvard reference standard, eg. (Jones,
2007). The list of references at the end should give full details
of the source.
Abstract
This is a brief summary of the entire project and should take up no more than half a page. Although it appears at the beginning, it should be written last of all, when the rest of the dissertation has been finished.
Declaration
A declaration is required, worded as follows: "No portion of the work presented in this dissertation has been submitted in support of another award or qualification at the University of Bolton or elsewhere."
Acknowledgements
Optional. If you want to acknowledge someone's help, do so under this heading.
Contents
The contents page gives page numbers for each main heading and sub-heading.
List of diagrams
Optional. List the reference number, title and page for each diagram
included in the dissertation.
1. Introduction
The introduction should set the scene and introduce the report. Without
going into too much technical detail it should explain what the project
set out to achieve and what aspect of the project identifies it as being
at MSc level. It should identify what has been investigated and hint at
the findings or potential benefits. When writing the introduction you should
assume that the reader knows nothing at all about your work. Although you
may write a first draft of the introduction early on, you should expect
to revise it many times. Along with the abstract, it is normal to finish
the introduction last of all, when it is finally clear what is being introduced.
2. Background
The background should introduce the subject matter and describe the state
of the art before you began the project. If the main project has been an
investigation, then you should leave the description of the investigation
to the next section. Otherwise (as will normally be the case) this section
should describe the investigation and research carried out early in the
project. The text should indicate to the reader that you have a depth of
knowledge about the subject, based on background reading and confirm the
position by appropriate references. Most of the text can probably be copied
from the interim report, and then updated in the light of any more recent
additional investigations. Avoid including large amounts of technical information
- anything of that type should be moved to an Appendix and simply referred
to from here.
3. Main body of the Dissertation (change the title
to be more specific)
This is a description of the element of investigation, design, development,
or analysis, with findings and analysis; a description of what was
done and what was achieved. This may in fact be a whole set of sections,
for example:
3. The issue in the context of literature or theory or the market
(Literature Review or Market Research)
4. Product Specification
5. Development of Prototype
6. Test Procedures
7. Results
8. Analysis
9. Findings
There are many alternatives, such as
3. Specification
4. System design
5. Sub-system design
6. - 9. (as above)
If the project is mainly investigative, the sections might be, for example:
3. Research to date
4. - 8. Main new leads investigated
9. Findings
The text should describe a logical progression through the work, even if in practice it was more haphazard! Since the project is intended to include experience of research methods and techniques, the dissertation should show rational planning of developmental stages with interim goals and decisions.
Where possible, present results visually by means of graphs, charts etc. Show samples and distributions rather than pages of tables. The development of a design should be ordered and should describe the critical decisions made in terms of optimisation.
It is important to interpret the meaning of the results to the reader. These may be summarised in a series of "Findings"
10. Conclusions (the number may be different)
This section should briefly summarise what has been achieved. It should
answer these questions:
- What were the initial aims and objectives?
- To what extent were the aims achieved?
- If they were not achieved, what went wrong?
- How could the procedure be improved?
- Recommendations for further work.
11. Suggestions for Further Work
Further work that could be taken up by another MSc student or research student
should be listed here.
12. References
A list of all the references mentioned earlier in the dissertation, presented
in alphabetical order of surname, ie. following the Harvard standard.
See Cite me, I'm Yours - Harvard Version, by David Rudd,
mentioned above.
You should keep an electronic copy of any websites used as references since
they are liable to be removed suddenly but could be required by the External
Examiner or by students trying to extend your work later. Such files
should be included on the electronic copy (CD-ROM) of the dissertation when
it is submitted.
Appendices
Supplementary information can be included in one or more appendices, thereby
keeping down the size of the main text.
Bibliography
Optional. This is simply a list of items used as general sources of
information and background reading. Some of the entries may duplicate
those in the section on references, but they will be general, ie. there
will be no mention of chapters or page numbers.
Assessment
The dissertation will be assessed by the academic supervisor and an
academic member of staff having appropriate expertise.
| Assessed Item | Marks Allocated |
|---|---|
| Presentation & Style Is the material as a whole presented in a clear and well-structured way, reflected in the contents page? Is the design consistent throughout, including pagination, numbering, headings, use of fonts, styles, labelling of graphs, figures, etc? Is the use of graphs, diagrams and tables sufficient and appropriate? Are spelling and grammar to a good standard? Is the contents and list of figures (if present) accurate and sufficient? Are the references presented correctly in the Harvard style? Is there an appropriate split of material between the main text and appendices? |
50% |
| Content Is the abstract clear and concise and comprehensive? Has the theoretical basis of the project been clearly and properly presented? Are the initial sections - introduction, aim, background - adequate and appropriate? Are the sections describing the design or investigation and results adequate and appropriate? Are the sections on analysis, conclusions and suggestions for further work adequate and appropriate? Are there appropriate and sufficient references? |
50% |
Viva Voce Examination
A viva voce (oral) examination is carried out by the academic supervisor and a course leader and enables the student's understanding of the area of work and the significance of the results obtained to be determined. It also gives an opportunity for the student to explain further aspects of the work not fully clear from the dissertation. This examination normally lasts around 5 minutes and may be carried out at the student's place of work, at Bolton or by videoconferencing.
Assessment
The viva voce examination will be assessed by the academic supervisor
and an academic member of staff having appropriate expertise.
| Assessed Item | Marks Allocated |
|---|---|
| Can any theoretical concepts or formulae be interpreted verbally?
Is the claim of ownership convincing? Are any required elaborations of the text satisfactory? |
100% |
Project Implementation
This mark will be awarded by the supervisors and is to do with the week-by-week
progress throughout the entire period of the project.
| Assessed Item | Marks Allocated |
|---|---|
| Project Planning Was the aim of the project clear from the outset? Did the project plan anticipate most events? Was the strategy well thought out? Was the schedule realistic? (duration of tasks, dates of milestones, etc.) |
10% |
| Project Management Was progress maintained in accordance with the project plan? How were any unforeseen problems or developments handled? Is it apparent that there was a high level of self motivation and independent working? Was there consistent, measured progress in preparing each of the major assessed items? (Time management) |
10% |
| Review of present "body of knowledge" Was the literature search carried out in an efficient and exhaustive manner, with appropriate use of facilities and technologies? |
30% |
| Element of investigation, design, development or analysis
Were resources used effectively and appropriately? Was the level and quantity of work of MSc standard? Was the work carried out efficiently? Was the analysis carried out appropriately and adequately? Were there significant elements of originality or initiative? Was there evidently a clear "grasp" of the problem, tasks and concepts? Was the specification adequate and appropriate? Was the specification met? Were the design decisions appropriate? |
40% |
| Communications Has the work been reported adequately at all times? When the work was discussed, were the conversations productive, clear and to the point? Has an accurate record been kept throughout (log book)? Was there appropriate use of the engineering network, colleagues and supervisors? |
10% |
Acknowledgements
These guidelines are based on guidance to full time MSc students written by Roger Jackson and Peter Martin. They have been
developed and extended by Roy Attwood with help from Jeff Ormerod, Safwat Mansi and Ted Pritchard.
David Rudd's publications (linked from above) have been particularly helpful.
Last updated 08/05/12 GE