FOOD 5117/CEIC 8319
MINOR Project
SESSIONS
1 & 2, 2006
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
·
COURSE STAFF 3
including a list of students and their supervisors, so that you can find out
the person with whom you will be working,
·
COURSE
INFORMATION 4
giving general information about the
subjects, their relationships and aims
·
ASSESSMENT 4
providing details of assessment components, work books, and prizes,
·
ACADEMIC HONESTY
AND PLAGIARISM 7
defining requirements for intellectual honesty
·
COURSE SCHEDULE 9
providing a timetable for your course components
·
RESOURCES FOR
STUDENTS 9
offering assistance on seminars and thesis
·
CONTINUAL COURSE
IMPROVEMENT 9
describing our efforts to improve the course each year, and
·
ADMINISTRATIVE
MATTERS 9
including details of School policies, health and safety and cleanup.
I will be your contact
for the TWO projects CEIC 8320/FOOD 5127.
Jayashree
Arcot
Co-ordinator
of Masters Coursework programs (8033, 8016)
Course staff
You will be supervised by a member of academic staff in the school either in Session 1 or Session 2. Please contact academic staff in the school (CEIC staff for CEIC projects and Food Science staff for FOOD projects) to discuss possible literature review projects and confirm topic and supervisor by week 2 in session 1 or session 2 depending on your enrolment in the course. Regular meetings with the supervisor then on are important for reviewing your progress.
Your academic supervisor will assist you in choosing a topic for research and should be the first point of contact to obtain information or resolve problems relating to the performance of the project. Please contact the course coordinator (Jayashree Arcot: j.arcot@unsw.edu.au, Ph: 9385 5360) for assistance with administrative details relating to the course.
The supervision of the project is left to the academic staff member, who has control over all aspects of the project. The responsibility for progress in the project is yours alone; your supervisor will give you advice and arrange workspace, chemicals and equipment.
Course information
The minor project allows you to undertake a literature search on a particular topic of study in food science and technology or chemical engineering or industrial chemistry with guidance from a member of academic staff. You will then have to summarise the information and put it together as a review on the topic and present it as a minor project report (ring-bound) at the end of the session. Follow instructions on how to write the thesis (a copy given during the induction). The form of the minor project report, however depends on the topic, and will be negotiated between the student and the supervisor. It is strongly recommended that the body of a literature search project be written as a review paper for an appropriate Journal, following the style specified in the Journal’s guidelines. The outcome of a minor project may be quite different from standard scientific writing. It may for example be an educational brochure or an original computer programme.
In all cases the report must be in paper form, supported by CD, disk or video where appropriate. The copies of the report must be ring bound.
Assessment
The criteria will vary according to the nature of the project and the form of the report. The form of the report has to be discussed with the supervisor. Student performance and the report are assessed by the supervisor only. The students are expected to give a seminar at the end of the session:
FOOD
5117/CEIC 8319
Seminar 20%
Thesis mark from supervisor 50%
Thesis mark from assessor 30%
The seminar mark will be averaged from submissions by all staff. Supervisor and Assessor report forms which indicate assessment criteria and weightings will be provided during the induction in week 1 session 1 and 2.
Scholarly enquiry means an ability to locate, assess, organize and, ultimately, make use of information.
For your personal records, keep copies of all the documents you submit.
Final dates for different components of your research project are as follows:
School due dates for projects starting in Session 1
|
Session 1 2006 |
Coursework Masters Minor Project CEIC 8319 |
|
1 to 2 |
choose
topic |
|
1 |
Introductory
talks |
|
4 |
*outline |
|
6 |
|
|
9 |
*first
draft |
|
12-14 |
Seminar,
final |
|
14 |
*ring bound
thesis |
School due
dates for projects starting in Session 2
|
Session 2 2006 |
Coursework Masters Major |
|
1 – 2 |
choose
topic |
|
1 |
Introductory
talks |
|
4 |
*outline |
|
9 |
* first
draft |
|
12-14 |
Seminar,
final |
|
14 |
*ring bound
thesis |
*Submit this work to the School Office by
Except in the case of illness or other extenuating circumstances, assessment items will not normally be accepted after the due date. In the case of the thesis, this means that the student will fail the subject. If any assessment item, e.g. the thesis, is accepted after the due date without any extenuating circumstances, the student will be VERY heavily penalized for every HOUR that it is late. You MUST meet deadlines for submission of assessment components.
This is a quote from School policy:
'The deadline for submission of Masters Coursework
research projects is fixed by the course coordinator and cannot be changed by
the project supervisor. Requests for extensions must be made through a formal
application for special consideration through the school.'
Project outline
The student should submit a draft of the project outline to the School Office. The project outline (maximum 5 x A4 double-space typed pages) is a basis for discussion of design of the project with the supervisor. It should contain:
· Background and justification for project
· Principal aims
· Timetable for the project consistent with the School due dates
Introduction and
literature survey
The student should submit a double-spaced draft of the thesis Introduction and Literature Survey to the School Office. The Supervisor will assess, correct and give general guidance on content and style of writing. This draft will be further refined for inclusion in the bound thesis.
Seminars
The seminars will be presented at the end of sessions 1 and 2. Only one seminar presentation is expected from each student.
Students are expected to contribute to discussions by way of questions and comments on other students’ presentations. The development of skills both in the asking of pertinent questions and answering them is vital to your professional development. It is not solely for staff to comment and ask questions.
• Seminar presents a summary of findings from the literature collected. It is a 15-minute seminar: 12 minutes presentation, then 3 minute discussion.
• Attendance
of students at all seminars is compulsory.
Marks will be lost for non-attendance.
Seminars are marked by all academic staff and students in attendance, on the basis of half marks for content and half marks for presentation. In assessing content, critical assessment of literature and the ability to answer questions are considered. In assessing presentation, the level, extent and relevance are considered.
Good performance in seminars is especially important, since it gives a strong impression of your abilities to academic staff (and other students!). In the outside world, skillful presentation of yourself and your efforts is a crucial aspect of success. Your supervisor will help you plan and organize the seminar(s).
First draft of the thesis
Drafts should be submitted to the supervisor 4-6 weeks before the due date to allow time for corrections, editing and general guidance on how to conduct scientific writing. Failure to do this may result in a poor quality thesis that will be downgraded by the assessor.
Bound copies of the thesis
The student submits the ring-bound thesis to the School Office. There is a minimum of two: one copy to the School, one to the supervisor.
Archival
CD
The original thesis files, plus a copy of the thesis in pdf format should be burned on an archival quality CD and submitted within one week of submitting the thesis.
Academic honesty and plagiarism
The
What is Plagiarism?
Plagiarism is the presentation of the thoughts or work of another as
one’s own.* Examples include:
·
direct
duplication of the thoughts or work of another, including by copying material,
ideas or concepts from a book, article, report or other written document
(whether published or unpublished), composition, artwork, design, drawing,
circuitry, computer program or software, web site, Internet, other electronic
resource, or another person’s assignment without appropriate acknowledgement;
·
paraphrasing
another person’s work with very minor changes keeping the meaning, form and/or
progression of ideas of the original;
·
piecing together
sections of the work of others into a new whole;
·
presenting an
assessment item as independent work when it has been produced in whole or part
in collusion with other people, for example, another student or a tutor; and
·
claiming credit for a proportion a work contributed to a group
assessment item that is greater than that actually contributed.†
For the
purposes of this policy, submitting an assessment item that has already been
submitted for academic credit elsewhere may be considered plagiarism.
Knowingly
permitting your work to be copied by another student may also be considered to
be plagiarism.
Note that
an assessment item produced in oral, not written, form, or involving live
presentation, may similarly contain plagiarised material.
The inclusion of the thoughts or work of another with attribution
appropriate to the academic discipline does not amount to plagiarism.
The Learning
Centre website is main repository for resources for staff and students on
plagiarism and academic honesty. These resources
can be located via:
The Learning
Centre also provides substantial educational written materials, workshops, and
tutorials to aid students, for example, in:
·
correct referencing practices;
·
paraphrasing, summarising, essay writing, and time management;
·
appropriate use of, and attribution for, a range of materials including
text, images, formulae and concepts.
Individual
assistance is available on request from The Learning Centre.
Students are
also reminded that careful time management is an important part of study and
one of the identified causes of plagiarism is poor time management. Students should allow sufficient time for
research, drafting, and the proper referencing of sources in preparing all
assessment items.
* Based on that proposed to the
† Adapted with kind permission
from the
If you take an idea or a few words of text
from a source, it is sufficient to reference the fact by inserting a reference
number (numerical referencing system) or the name of the author and year in
brackets (Harvard referencing system). If you take more than a few words from a
source, the text should be placed in inverted commas or a different font/style,
so that it is clear that the words you use are not your own, and the text
should be referenced as before.
Only work carried out during the period of
the thesis project can be included in the thesis. Any student who carried out
vacation work with a research group in the School is required to make a clean
distinction between work before and after commencement of the thesis. A student
may reference work carried out previously.
All assessment items, including the thesis,
should be submitted with a signed assessment cover sheet declaring that the
work is free from plagiarism:
I declare that
this assessment item is my own work, except where acknowledged, and has not
been submitted for academic credit elsewhere, and acknowledge that the assessor
of this item may, for the purpose of assessing this item:
Reproduce this assessment item and provide a copy to another member of the
University; and/or,
Communicate a copy of this assessment item to a plagiarism checking service
(which may then retain a copy of the assessment item on its database for the
purpose of future plagiarism checking).
I certify that I have read and understood the University Rules in respect of
Student Academic Misconduct.
Signed: ....................................................date:
Course schedule
This will be worked out between the supervisor and the student based on the deadlines to be adhered to.
Resources for students
Your supervisor will advise you of books, journal articles
and websites where you may find information as a starting point for your
research project. After that, it is your responsibility to search out and
evaluate information. The Physical Sciences and Biomedical Sciences Library is
helpful and can assist you in learning the techniques of information searching
and retrieval (info.library.unsw.edu.au/web/services/teaching.html). The Web of Knowledge (www.isinet.com), the
Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org) and the School wiki (wiki.ceic.unsw.edu.au) are
useful.
See handouts given during the induction for further
information on seminars and thesis
Continual course improvement
Student feedback is taken seriously and continual improvements are made on the basis of feedback from students, supervisors and external reviewers of our courses. A meeting is held with students each year to discuss course improvements and we will ask you to complete a feedback form when you submit your thesis.
If there are any problems, we would like to know about them. Many problems can be rectified simply and long-term solutions can be planned to more difficult problems.
If you would like to make any suggestions for improvements, please contact the course coordinator either by email (j.arcot@unsw.edu.au) or by telephone (02 9385 5360).
We want to make your research project an enjoyable and worthwhile experience for both you and the staff of the School.
Administrative Matters
Notices will be sent by email to your student email address. You should check regularly for notices.
A policy document is available on the School website (www.ceic.unsw.edu.au), covering issues such as attendance, procedures for submission of assessment items, late submission of assessment items, and advice concerning illness or misadventure.
If you have a disability that requires some adjustment in the teaching or learning environment please discuss your study needs with the course coordinator (Jayashree Arcot, email: j.arcot@unsw.edu.au, telephone: 02 9385 5360) prior to, or at the commencement of, their course, or with the Equity Officer (Disability) in the Equity and Diversity Unit (9385 4734 or www.equity.unsw.edu.au/disabil.html). Issues to be discussed may include access to materials, signers or note-takers, the provision of services and additional exam and assessment arrangements. Early notification is essential to enable any necessary adjustments to be made.