Unit information: Literature Review in 2019/20

Unit name	Literature Review
Unit code	EASCM0034
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Cunningham
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Earth Sciences
Faculty	Faculty of Science

Description including Unit Aims

The aim of this 20 credit point unit is to provide students with training and experience in designing a research project, from researching previous work on their topic, identifying outstanding problems and determining what is required, in terms of methods and materials, to solve those problems. The experimental design is crucial: the student must look at available data in the literature and reframe questions that can realistically be tackled. The objective is to produce a coherent, concise, analytical, up-to-date, and accurate report on the various positions in the debate, and to present this to a general palaeontologist/ evolutionary biologist – rather than an expert in the immediate field. Students read into a research topic and then use feedback from a meeting with their supervisor to produce a written review (in the format of the discipline leading journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution), and then prepare a research proposal, including a feasibility study, in the form of a NERC Standard Grant Application. At every stage, these exercises are stringent, and oblige students to raise the quality of their work from undergraduate essay writing, to adhering to the strict standards expected of a professional review or grant application.

Intended Learning Outcomes

The principal learning outcomes:

• develop a research theme by discussion with staff and analysis of the current state of play in a subject field
• identify and access appropriate library or electronic information relevant to the project.
• analyse the nature of the debate, identifying the key viewpoints and the evidence that supports each.
• critically appraise the strengths and weaknesses of the different current viewpoints in the debate, evaluating the strength of the evidence on each side.
• formulate tests of competing viewpoints
• determine the materials, methods and resources (including time and money) required for the effective completion of an analytical research project
• communicate in the report the nature of the project, and why it is important.
• produce a project report as a research proposal, written in a mature scientific manner

Teaching Information

Formal lectures, practical sessions, discussions with supervisors, seminars.

Assessment Information

The unit will be assessed on the basis of a literature review in Trends in Ecology & Evolution format (50%), and a project plan in the form of a NERC grant application (50%)

Reading and References

N/A