GUIDELINES FOR RESEARCH
PROJECT, IESL PARTIII (C)
Eng. P. D. Sarath Chandra
25 January 2013
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
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What is Undergraduate Research?
Standard Expected - IESL Part III (C), PROJECT
Process in carrying out IESL Research Project
Essential ingredients
Good Practices to Develop
What should you avoid?
Role of your Supervisor
Gains from Research
Main activities of a Research
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
• Benefits to you from doing research
• Developing the Project Proposal
• Ways to communicate Research
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What is Undergraduate Research?
Undergraduate research is:
Mentored, Self-directed Work that enables
individual students or small groups of students to
explore an issue of interest to them, and
communicate the results to others.
There is often an immediate connection to a local,
national, or international issue, and an increasing
appreciation of the value of multidisciplinary
approaches.
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What does a Research Project Involve?
A Research project involves:
inquiry,
design, design and development
investigation,
Mathematical modeling/analysis
scholarship,
discovery, invention, innovation
application,
Process and analyse data
collection of Data
communication of work
Experimentation
Hypothesis testing
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INDIVIDUAL, OR GROUP PROJECTS !
As far as the IESL PART III (C) is concerned, an
individual should undertake single project.
However, a group project is possible
whenever the scope of single project is
too large, and if two or three persons, in a
group, undertake as distinct parts of that
project subject to individual evaluation.
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STANDARD EXPECTED FOR IESL PARTIII (C)
– EVALUATION OF PROJECTS
The standard of IESL PART III (C), project, should
be comparable with those of other four
Engineering Faculties in the country.
Therefore, the benchmark for IESL PART III (C),
Research Project is the standard of those of
undergraduates who complete projects as a partial
fulfillment in B.Sc. Of Engineering or B.Tech. of
Engineering degrees awarded by the relevant
Universities
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Does accomplishment of a Project involve a
Process?
YES ! It DOES
Can you decide one of your own
processes?
It may be possible
I will give you a typical flow chart that you
may follow in achieving the success.
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WHAT IS THE MOST ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS OF AN
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROJECT
1. Creating new knowledge
2. Surging new ideas
3. Bringing any innovations and inventions
into limelight
4. Adding value to an existing piece of work
5. Exposing Research Findings
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GOOD PRACTICES TO DEVELOP!
• Have a plan, it may be a flexible one
• Follow a process
• Meet set timelines
• If the available period prior to submission is six (06) months , have a time
plan to adhere to
• Have a daily record of the work related to your project, it may be useful
as you progress with your work
• Have a record of literature that you review
• Search for information by going through different sources available
• Discuss the work with your colleagues and superiors, and seek opinions
• Remember that you need assistance from your collegues, subordinates
and superiors in order to meet the target of success
• Work with your supervisor in harmony
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THINGS THAT YOU SHOULD AVOID FROM DOING ,
WHILE PERFORMING THE PROJECT!
Plagiarism: This means,
•Copying somebody else’s work and produce
•Submit others work without acknowledgement
•Directly copying from websites and publishing extracted
materials without acknowledgement
Copying and submitting the work of your organisation:
This means,
• Publishing work of the organisation as if you have done it
• Submission without approval any data/drawing/ etc., of
which your organisation has the ownership
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ROLE OF YOUR SUPERVISOR
• Help develop the Research Proposal
• Provide Directions to achieve set targets
• Make himself available for you to clear any
doubts, and obtain any assistance when you
cannot progress without additional knowledge
which you do not possess.
• Provide guidance at the time of report writing
• Give you the moral support during the project
period
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Your Supervisor can be a person:
• from a Faculty of Engineering, who is holding a position
not less than a Senior Lecturer who is capable of advising
you in the area to be studied, or
• with status not less than a Corporate Member of the IESL,
but competent to advise you in the subject area, in which
you have chosen your project, or
• Can be a Senior Manager/Engineer who is at least a
Corporate Member of the IESL, and who is also
competent to advise you about the subject matter
related to the project, and
• who is easily accessible to you to consult when you need
academic assistance
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CAUTION!!!
• Your supervisor's role is not only signing the proposal and
the final report for submission, but much more than that.
• It is your responsibility to select the correct supervisor for
the selected research area
• Learn to manage the Supervisor for your advantage.
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WHAT DO YOU GAIN FROM RESEARCH PROJECTS
You will acquire practical tools for your education
and future career through:
•Critical thinking and analytical skills
•Teamwork
•Communication
•Leadership
•Global perspective
•Preparation for lifelong learning
•Learning to meet target days
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WHAT DO YOU GAIN FROM RESEARCH PROJECTS
• You will increase self-confidence in your abilities as a
scholar and a researcher
• You will better see the connections between various
disciplines
• You will learn to create knowledge by engaging in active
learning
• You will take research methods from the classroom and
apply them to real-life situations
• You will expose your hidden talents and steer your career
towards a better direction.
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WHAT SKILLS DO YOU DEVELOP FROM
RESEARCH PROJECTS
• New Laboratory and experimentation
• Computer, computation, use application software
• Collecting data and use of statistical tools to make decisions
• Reading journal articles and doing literature searches/review
• Communication – Writing report, making presentations of
findings, presenting research papers in journals
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What do Undergraduate Research look like?
• Library searches and archive work
• Surveys and interviews
• Analysis
• Laboratory bench work
• Modeling Simulation and Computations
• Fieldwork
• Observations on incidence over time
• Creative work design, and more
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Why should you consider doing undergraduate
research important?
•By engaging in undergraduate
research, you will learn to apply
what you already know to new
issues that interest you, and have
the opportunity to influence others.
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Why should you consider doing
undergraduate research is important?
•You may also create new works that
are appreciated by the community
and beyond, experience the joys of
scholarship and the thrill of discovery,
and you watch with pride as your
ideas are adapted and implemented
by others.
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Why should you consider doing undergraduate
research important?
• Along the way, you are likely to
develop new skills, meet others
with
similar
interests,
gain
confidence, define your own style,
deepen your connections to the
society, and use your experiences to
help you choose a future career
path.
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DEVELOPING A PROJECT PROPOSAL
1.Clear statement of the Research Question:
State clearly what you will be studying. Be
sure that this is understandable to someone
who doesn’t know much about your field of
study.
If needed, define terms. To test your
explanation – give this to a friend not in your
major. If he/she doesn’t understand, try
again!
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Project Title
• Should be decided after careful thoughts, and once the
research problem is clear to you
• Should be definite, concise (succinct), Note Key Words
in the Title (ex. Design, Develop, Experimental study)
• Should reflect a clear meaning of your work
• Your work should be confined to the idea expressed by
the title
• Title should not project more than what is in the
research
• It should tempt the person to read the inside report who
shows an interest on it
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DEVELOPING A PROJECT PROPOSAL
2. Project Aims and Objectives –
Aims and Objectives are often confused with each
other.
Aims generally cannot be easily measured because
there is nothing specific to check if they have been
met.
The objectives set himself targets towards achieving
that aim. Objectives has measures, because they
involve specific dates or and figures etc.
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Objectives Should be
• Specific : what the student should be able to do/how
they will do it, and to what level
• Measurable: you should be able to work out how their
attainment will be assessed
• Attainable: by the student taking part in the Research
• Realistic: “appropriateness” of the task (similar to
attainable)
• Time-appropriate: achievable within the length of the
Research/Project
Let us go through a simple example to understand what they are,
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• Nimal wants to drive a car as his brother does.
Nimal’s father set following targets for him to
achieve:
1. He should pass his theory test by next
March.
2. He should pass his practical driving test by
next June.
3. He should save Rs.10,000 each month from
his part-time job and from his pocket money
towards the deposit for the car.
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Outcomes of Research Projects
Be definite about the Outcomes of your Research Work
(For example:)
• Achievement of Objectives
• Submission of a good research report for evaluation
• Make a presentation on the findings to a panel of
examiners/audience
• Defend the ideas/views and relevance of the work
and success of the work before a panel
• Make it a work of merit
• Publish research papers if the research is a success
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DEVELOPING A PROJECT PROPOSAL
6.
Anticipated results/Final Products and
Dissemination (Outcomes).
Describe possible forms of the final
product, e.g., publishable manuscript,
conference papers, invention, software,
exhibit, performance, etc. Be specific
about how you intend to share your
results or project with others.
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Developing a Project Proposal
• This section may also include an interpretation and
explanation of results as related to your question
• A discussion on or suggestions for further work that
may help address the problem you are trying to
solve
• An analysis of the expected impact of the scholarly
or creative work on the audience; or a discussion
on any problems that could hinder your creative
endeavor.
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DEVELOPING A PROJECT PROPOSAL
3.
Background/Statement of the Problem/Significance
of the Project –
Be succinct (definite and to the point). Clearly
support your statement with documentation and
references, and include a review of the literature
that supports the need for your research or creative
endeavor.
A discussion of present understanding and/or state
of knowledge concerning the question/problem or
a discussion of the context of the scholarly or
creative work.
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Developing a Project Proposal
• This section (Background /Statement) presents the problem you
intend to solve and your solution to that problem.
• What is the question that you want to explore in your research
and why is this an interesting and important question?
• In thinking about the significance, try to take the position of an
educated newspaper reader. If she or he were to see an article
about your research in the paper, how would you explain the
importance of your project?
• For most proposals, this section will have references.
• This section should also include how your project benefits or
impacts to the society as a whole and what knowledge is gained
by you or disseminate to others.
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DEVELOPING A PROJECT PROPOSAL
4. Experimental/Project Design –
Design and describe a work plan. This may include use of population samples,
experimental and control groups, or other methods of data gathering and statistical
analysis. The work plan may include archival research, translating, fieldwork,
laboratory experiments, or other forms of analysis and synthesis of ideas and
concepts.
This section of the proposal should explain the details of the proposed plan. How
will you go about exploring your research question? What will be your methods? If
you are not the only person working on the project, who else will be involved?
Be specific on what you will be doing. The reasoning behind the research
opportunity is to make sure that you have a clear idea about the problem. If the
reviewer can’t tell what part of a project you will be doing, he/she can’t evaluate
your experience.
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DEVELOPING A PROJECT PROPOSAL
5. Project timeline –
Give an overview of when you are going to do
specific steps of your project. This does not need
to be a day to day list but depending on the
length of your project it may give an overview
biweekly or monthly. Be sure to include time to
review/synthesize your data or to reflect on the
experience. You should include time to write the
final report/paper.
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Method to Present Time plan
DEVELOPING A PROJECT PROPOSAL
7.
Student's personal statement
– This section is read carefully by the reviewers
and does impact their decision. You may wish to
include why you want to do this project, what
got you interested in it, your career goals, and
how this award would further those goals.
While it is important, please remember that it
shouldn’t overpower the rest of the proposal.
One quarter to one-half of the page should be
sufficient.
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6. Project References
• Use the standard convention the author, title of
article, journal title, volume, pages, and date.
• Refer to Harvard Reference formats or/and
Harvard Style Reference Generator to learn the
referencing methods in detail
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Phases in Research Project
1. Receiving approval from the IESL
2. Further literature survey to collect information, process
information
3. Develop alternative solutions to the research problem
4. Mathematically model the solutions (Note the assumptions
made to simplify the problem) or experimentation/laboratory
work/field work
5. Analyse the models using mathematical tools or
software/Collect data from experimentation and analyse
6. Work for obtaining the optimum solution
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Phases in Research Project
7. Validate the model
8. Make improvements to the model if the results are not
acceptable
9. Repeat experiments or outputs from final model,
collect data
10.Analyse data
11.Make conclusions
12.Design/Develop prototype or scale model
13.Research communication (Report)
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Phases in Research Projects
14. Obtain approval from the Supervisor for report
15. Submission
16. Examination
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COMMUNICATION OF RESEARCH
1. Your research is of no use if you are not in a
position to communicate to others.
2. One of the outcomes of the Part III (C) is
developing communication skills
3. There is a considerable weightage to measure the
communication skills.
4. Both verbal and written communication are equally
important.
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WITH WHOM YOU COMMUNICATE YOUR
WORK AND FINDINGS
• With the IESL for the purpose of evaluating your
project – In the form of a written report
• AN EXCLUSIVE AUDIENCE WITH A PRESENTATION using multimedia equipment and material prepared
with Microsoft Power Point Software
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DEVELOPING REPORT WRITING SKILLS IS
ANOTHER OUTCOME OF A PROJECT
• Learning to prepare a formal report
• Follow standard report writing format (top, bottom,
right and left margins, font sizes, cover page,
paragraphing, line spacing, etc.)
• Communicating clearly, precisely; presenting facts
grammatically accurate, using punctuation marks
relevantly, adhering to economical writing, using
available technology to enhance the quality of texts,
drawings, graphs, photos, etc.
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Good Practice: Browse through a Well Written
Project Reports with an Open Mind
• Search in the library for well written reports.
• Browse them to learn the report writing format
• If you find any drawbacks there, you must improve
them in your report and avoid following any form of
unacceptable presentations
• Read at least one text book on “Report Writing” to
learn good practices
CAUTION !!! DO NOT FOLLOW POORLY
PRESENTED AND SUB-STANDARD
REPORTS.
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PRESENT TO AN AUDIENCE USING AUDIO
VISUAL EQUIPMENT
• Learn to handle and use audio video equipment in
presentation to an audience.
• Develop good habits when making presentations
• Learn essential tips from making slides to starting to
finishing points of your presentation to an audience
• This includes how you speak to the audience, getting the
attention of the audience, convincing the audience with
specific facts, synchronising your talking with the slide
show, your posture, etc.
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Writing Proposal
Structure of a thesis proposal.docx
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THANK YOU
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