CMP7200 Individual Master’s Project Handbook | BCU

CMP7200 Introduction

Students must undertake a Master's Project. The project will carry 60 credits at Level 7. This is a major piece of work of 600 notional study hours.

Please read this Handbook carefully, along with the associated documentation provided on Moodle. If you have any doubts about the requirements for preparing the Master’s dissertation, please consult with your tutor.

The assessment criteria are provided in the Assessment Brief, available on Moodle.

The BCU Standard Postgraduate Assessment Regulations govern this module.

CMP7200 Module learning outcomes

1. Plan a research-informed project using appropriate literature and/or professional outputs
2. Assess the value of theoretical concepts and, where appropriate, consider how they may be applied to the solution of real problems
3. Design an artefact/data-gathering strategy using appropriate techniques and tools
4. Implement a design to produce an artefact/gather the data using appropriate techniques
5. Critically evaluate and reflect on the implementation of the artefact/data collected and the overall project.

CMP7200 Assessment overview

Please refer to the module assessment brief for the assessment criteria.

The Master’s Project is assessed as below:

Project Registration
The first stage of the project is to identify the nature of the project based on initial research and discussions with academic staff. This will lead to the allocation of academic supervisors.

Research and Planning 
A 3,000-word report critically appraising an appropriate initial body of published research/professional output and research methodologies. This will develop a research problem expressed as a research question, and a plan that applies key methods and techniques.

Project dissertation report 
A report (additional 9,000 words building on the Research and Planning report to produce a final 12,000 words) that synthesises the knowledge gained from the initial research activities to create an artefact or evaluate the data collected. This will express ideas in answer to the
research question, recognising the limitations of the project, utilising appropriate underpinning theoretical concepts, identifying areas for potential development or further research, and reflecting upon the experience of the research process. It must take into consideration appropriate and relevant academic, ethical and professional requirements. 

Viva Examination
A presentation (this is considered to be equivalent to 3,000 words in terms of effort) that reflects upon the experience of the research process. It must take into consideration appropriate and relevant academic, ethical and professional requirements.

Supervision

You will be allocated an academic supervisor from the University, and if you are undertaking the project for your employer, there will also be an industrial mentor from your company. There will be regular contact with the supervisor. At formal meetings (face-to-face, Skype, telephone or other appropriate method), progress will be discussed and details of the meeting recorded.

Philosophy & Scope

The project is intended to both integrate as many aspects of the programme of study as feasible and to act as a vehicle for you to demonstrate your wider abilities.

An appropriate project will be identified during the course of the academic support sessions before the project commences. It is your responsibility to select an appropriate topic area in conjunction with consultation with academic staff and reviewing previous project work conducted, where it is available. Project topic areas will be posted on the relevant Master’s Project Moodle site along with details of the research interests of relevant staff members.

If you are undertaking a project based in industry, you should liaise initially with the industrial sponsor and the Course Team to develop the project details. On completion of this process, the project will need to be formally registered.

Please note that you can develop your own ideas for a project or further develop the topic areas suggested by academic staff.

It is important that the consideration of the problem area or research topic suitably reflects the course rationale. Failure to ensure this will prevent a project proposal from being allowed to progress further.

Project Log Book

It is expected that you maintain a logbook throughout the project. The logbook is intended to:

• emphasise the importance of maintaining a contemporary record of work and to develop this skill
• provide evidence of activities to support discussions with supervisors
• ensure that all elements of the dissertation marking can be verified by evidence.

You should note that while the logbook is not formally submitted for assessment it must be available for inspection if meeting supervisors and must be available for the final viva. It must be apparent that the log book represents a continuous and contemporaneous account of the work done on the project. It is important that you develop the skill of maintaining traceable records as you work.

The logbook may be kept electronically as long as it can be made available at the viva, and ideally shared electronically with your supervisor.
 
The Project Logbook should contain a dated, chronological record of the work of the Project. The Logbook must be a record of every significant event in the project. Material recorded should include:

• The development of (and any subsequent alterations to) the project objectives with relevant information on background and context.
• Evidence of project planning and of any revisions or adaptations to the intended schedule (with reasons for these).
• Evidence of risk assessment, health and safety issues, etc., which are important to project conception and execution but may not normally be formally reported elsewhere.
• Adequate and traceable records of all sources of information and data (e.g. papers, textbooks, standards, manuals, personal communications, etc.).
• Notes towards a literature review if required by the project supervisor.
• Outlines of all material taken from papers, textbooks, etc., such as derivations of expressions or calculation procedures, etc., with due emphasis paid to assumptions, limitations, etc.
• Descriptions of all procedures followed to obtain results (experimental, design, computational, statistical, etc.), along with the corresponding descriptions of apparatus, etc.
• All experimental or computational results, including raw results as recorded on the apparatus, which would enable independent checking of any test point.
• Details of all calculation, review or evaluation procedures.
• Evidence of how the principal deliverables or conclusions were arrived at.

It should also include dated records of meetings with supervisors, advisors, colleagues, etc. The project logbook should be used by you as the basis for the final report and viva presentation.

The Master's Project Process

Project Selection

You will receive details of the deadlines and deliverables (with dates) for the Master's Project in advance of the Project commencement. Please note that the deadlines might be different according to the mode of study you are following, so it is important that you ensure that you check the details carefully. If in doubt, you should contact the Project Module Co-ordinator.

If you are based in industry, you may develop a project with a sponsor that will need to meet the requirements of the Master's Project. This process of project selection and approval will precede the formal start date of the Project module.

For non-industry-sponsored students, you will be directed to the Master’s Project Moodle site, where some topic areas and suitable supervisors will be posted. You are encouraged to discuss the project details with the member of staff proposing the project, a member of staff nominated or a member of staff who teaches in a particular subject area.

Project Registration

You will be expected to register your project via the ‘Project Registration’ link on the Moodle Assessment area. The deadline for completing the registration process is given on the Master's Project Moodle site. You will also need to complete the ethics approval submission (see 2.1.1)
This includes

• Proposed Title
• Research Question
• Aims
• Objectives
• Main research philosophy/methodology/methods
• Rationale

A registration form and ethical guidelines are provided on Moodle

Research Ethics

All MSc Projects require PRIOR ethical approval from the university before being started, and retrospective approval cannot be given.

You will need to create an account here with your BCU email address (note it is not part of single sign-on, so you need a new password).

You will need to create a Research Form and complete the questions within the five sections

1. Risk Categorisation Questions
2. Basic Project Information
3. Ethical dimension of your project
4. Supporting documents
5. Declarations and Signatures
 
After submitting the ethics application, you will receive an email confirming your application has been submitted. Where a supervisor has been named on the form, they will receive an email and will be asked to approve the application before it is submitted for review.

The application will be reviewed by the ethics administrator, who will assess the risk.

Depending on the risk, the application will be passed for review by:

• Chair (or Deputy) (reviewed online).
• Two members of the committee and the Chair (reviewed online).
• Full committee (reviewed at next monthly meeting).

You will receive an email with the outcome of the review. This can be:

• The application has been approved.
• Application requires minor changes, listed against specific questions.
• The application requires major changes, listed against specific questions.

If changes are required, edit the specific sections and resubmit.

After receiving ethical approval and when a research project is in progress, if anything changes from the original application, further ethical approval will be required.

Research and Planning

A 3,000-word report critically appraising an appropriate initial body of published research/ professional output and research methodologies. This will develop a research problem expressed as a research question, utilising appropriate underpinning theoretical concepts and a plan that applies key methods and techniques.
The proposal will be submitted via the Project Moodle page.
The following will be considered as the base requirements for the report:

• Title
• Research Question
• Aim
• Objectives
• Background and Rationale
• Preliminary Literature Review with critical analysis
• Methodology, including any resources required
• Outline project plan with key deliverables identified as a Gantt chart

The Research and Planning report will be summatively assessed. This report will become the first part of the final dissertation, suitably updated.

Project report (Dissertation)

The project report is expected to be around 12,000 words (including the updated 3000 words from the Research and Planning report) that synthesises the knowledge gained from the initial research activities to create an artefact or evaluate the data collected. This will express ideas in answer to the research question, recognising the limitations of the project and areas for potential development or further research, and reflecting upon the experience of the research process. It must take into consideration appropriate and relevant academic, ethical and professional requirements
An electronic version of the report will be uploaded to the appropriate Moodle site for marking.

Overall structure

The following will be considered as the base requirements for the dissertation structure:

• Abstract
• Introduction - The definition of the problem, including the project aim and objectives
• Presentation and Analysis of primary and/or secondary data
• Discussion and interpretation of Results
• Conclusions
• Recommendations and proposals for further work
• References – The Harvard Style MUST be used (this refers to all work cited in the report)
• Bibliography (this is different to references and refers to background reading)
• Appendices and Artefacts (may be submitted separately)

Where appropriate adjustments to the structure can be made to accommodate the client-focused dimension of some projects, but this should always be done with the agreement of the supervisor.

Viva Examination

You will give a presentation and a formal Viva Voce of your work. You will present your findings and conclusions to the project supervisor(s) and, where appropriate, external supervisors, external examiners and industry mentors may also be invited.

The Viva Voce will be assessed on evidence of thorough planning and design of work carried out: coordination of resources, enthusiasm and motivation for the work, extent of investigation and pursuit tenacity. Ability to argue issues relating to the methodology adopted and the analysis of the results, as well as justification of the conclusions and recommendations made to the company or organisation as appropriate.

When preparing for the viva voce, you must include the following as a focus for the presentation:

• Introduction to the project, aim, setting the scene and the methodologies being adopted.
• Formulation of results obtained or the implementation of the chosen solution.
• Analysis and verification of data and design process.
• Outcome of the project and benefit(s).
• Your recommendation regarding implementation and possible further works.
• Conformance of the project outcome with original aim(s) and objectives

Appendices

Report Style Guide

The following requirements must be adhered to in the format of the final dissertation.

The main body of text of the dissertation should not normally exceed 12,000 words.

A full electronic version (including all diagrams, figures and appendices) of the final report must be submitted via Moodle. No physical submission is required.

The dissertation should be written in 12pt Arial type.

One-and-a-half spacing must be used in typescript except for indented quotations or footnotes, where single spacing may be used. Top, bottom and right margins should be set at 25mm, and the left margins at 40mm.

The outer title page shall bear the title of the work in at least 24pt type. The name and initials of the candidate, the qualification and the year of submission.

Pages shall be numbered consecutively through the main text, including photographs and/or diagrams that are included as whole pages.

Sections and headings should be numbered (1.0, 1.1, 1.1.1, etc)

The inner title page shall give the following information:

• The full title of the dissertation:
• The full name of the author;
• The award for which the degree is submitted in partial fulfilment of its requirements.
• The faculty and University title plus the Collaborating Establishment, if any;
• The month and year of submission.
• The name of the supervisor

The dissertation must include a statement of the project aims and objectives and must acknowledge published or other sources of material consulted (including an appropriate bibliography) and any assistance received.

There shall be an abstract (of approximately 300 words) in the dissertation, which provides a synopsis of the dissertation stating the nature and scope of the work undertaken and of the contribution made to the knowledge of the subject treated.

The Library and Centre for Academic Success will be able to advise on the appropriate use of references.