Unit information: Research Project in 2013/14

Unit name	Research Project
Unit code	PHPH30009
Credit points	40
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Dr. Brennan
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	PHYY20100 Physiology 2: From genes to whole body in health and disease
Co-requisites	Concepts and Skills
School/department	School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience
Faculty	Faculty of Life Sciences

Description including Unit Aims

Students will conduct an original research project and present their findings in the form of a research dissertation and oral presentation. The unit aims to encourage students to investigate a specific research question in considerable depth and to develop an understanding of the process of scientific research. The project can take a variety of forms:

• Experimental projects are lab-based and involve the design, conduct and analysis of wet experiments, in which the students collect their own data, or occasionally dry experiments where the students analyse the results of existing data.
• Non-experimental projects are based on research of the scientific literature and require a detailed literature review on a particular research question and to propose a programme of further research.
• Teaching projects are based on the assessment of teaching methods and materials used in the undergraduate science and professional courses, for example assessing whether the effectiveness of the human patient simulator as a tool for teaching specific aspects of normal and abnormal physiology.
• Undergraduate Ambassador Scheme project students research and develop an original physiology/biology based teaching project in partnership with teachers at a local secondary school. This involves the students developing original teaching resources and using them to deliver teaching to A-level pupils on a selected aspect of the A-level curriculum, along with assessment of their effectiveness. A second part of the project involves devising an original physiological experiment that can be conducted by A-level pupils using the resources available in the Faculty teaching labs.

Students list their preferences from a wide range of projects and every attempt is made to allocate them a project according to their first three choices. Lab time for experimental projects is limited to 240 hours.

Intended Learning Outcomes

• A deep understanding of a specific scientific or educational question
• The ability to gather information from the primary scientific and/or educational literature and to critically evaluate the material and appraise competing theories.
• The ability to present original findings and ideas to a specialist audience in written and oral forms.

Teaching Information

Project planning and discussion meetings with project supervisors. Training in experimental techniques and data analysis, if required.

Assessment Information

The unit will be assessed through:

• Project Review Essay (20%). This consists of a 200-word abstract and a 2500-word essay that reviews the background literature related to their project question. This summative assessment tests their ability to: understand the context of the project; read and critically analyse the primary research literature; to synthesise ideas and to communicate them effectively in written form to a scientific reader.
• Project Dissertation (60%). For experimental projects, teaching projects and UAS projects this consists of a 200-word abstract and a 8000-word dissertation. For non-experimental projects the project dissertation consists of a Detailed Literature Review (300-word abstract and 10,000-word text) plus a Research Proposal (300-word abstract and 5000-word text), which contribute equally to the assessment of the project dissertation. This summative assessment tests their ability to design and conduct an original piece of research, to critically evaluate the findings and to place them in context of the existing literature.
• Supervisors report (10%). This is a summative written assessment by the project supervisor of the ability of the student to engage with the project and work on it independently, as well as their individual contribution to the project.
• Oral presentation (10%). This is a summative assessment by a panel of project supervisors of the ability of the student to communicate the findings of their research project using a poster or slideshow presentation of 10-15 minutes, and to answer questions on it.

Reading and References

Reviews and key references from the current scientific and/or educational literature