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 |
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.
The principal learning outcomes:
Formal lectures, practical sessions, discussions with supervisors, seminars.
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%)
N/A