EGH400-1 Research Project 1

Unit Outline: Semester 1 2024, Gardens Point, Internal

Overview

As a professional engineer you will be competent to practise as outlined in the Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competency Standard for Professional Engineer. You will be required to identify engineering challenges and carry out comprehensive, independent projects to address them using a rigorous research and investigation framework in a team setting. In this first of two integrated capstone units of your Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) degree you will hone your knowledge and skills bases in preparation for graduate work or further studies. You will learn engineering project design, methodology and management, advancement of discipline knowledge and skills, risk, ethics and sustainability in a project environment, and reporting and presenting project stages. This unit and its following unit EGH400-2 Research Project 2 together build upon your learning throughout your engineering core and first major (Study Area A), in particular EGH404 Research in Engineering Practice.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

1. Conduct a literature review to inform an engineering problem using survey, reference management, analysis and synthesis at a mastered level.
2. Formulate a proposal for an engineering project that addresses client needs, management of time, resources, and communication at a mastered level.
3. Formulate a progress stage towards the solution of an engineering problem that responds to risk, ethics, and sustainability considerations at a mastered level.
4. Report progress of a project that addresses an engineering problem using written and oral communication at a mastered level.
5. Practise professionally in the collaborative environment of an engineering project at a mastered level.

Content

Learning Approaches

In this unit you can expect to experience the following timetabled activities:

• Formal lectures (in weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 11 for a total of 12 hours) from experienced engineering research academics, student success educators, and librarians to give you insight into professional engineering research knowledge, skills and attributes. You will have the opportunity to ask questions during these lectures.

To complement these timetabled activities, you will be provided with learning resources including videos and readings on a unit Canvas site that you can access flexibly to assist you in completing your learning in this unit.

At the beginning of the unit, you will be made aware of the ways in which you can ask questions or seek clarification from the Unit Coordinator.

You are expected to:

• Engage with timetabled activities on campus and ask questions.
• Manage your time to engage with online resources outside of timetabled activities. These will be
  available on the unit Canvas site. You will receive regular email announcements regarding
  release of these resources.
• At commencement of semester apply, and then be accepted for by the end of week 2, an advertised research topic OR approach a potential supervisor with an acceptable research topic, which is relevant to your engineering first major (study area A) using the system prescribed by the unit coordinator.
• Work in a self-directed manner and with your student project team throughout the semester to arrange, prepare for, and attend weekly meetings with your academic supervisor and where relevant industry supervisor, where you will demonstrate your progress and discuss your ongoing work with your project team.
• Undertake work independently and with your student project team outside of your timetabled activities and supervision meetings to complete your work.
• Complete assessment tasks by working consistently through the semester and meeting the due dates that are published on the unit Canvas site.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

During weekly meetings with your academic supervisor (and industry supervisor for industry projects), you will share your formative ideas for your assessments and you will receive feedback from your supervisor/s and your student project team. As part of an effective team you will share the findings of your project work with your supervisor/s for marking and feedback, and you will share your project progress presentation with your supervisor/s with members of your class. You are encouraged to view this team as a learning community and to share and discuss emergent ideas in the engineering research and investigation process and your understandings of engineering professional practice. Each assessment submission will be graded against criteria and standards that will be shared with you at the beginning of semester through Assessment Task Descriptions and Marking Rubrics. Marked assessment will include feedback given by the markers against the criteria.

Assessment

Overview

Assessment in the unit has been designed to give you the opportunity to show your learning against the unit learning outcomes. The due dates of assessments represent a series of coordinated milestones within an engineering research project that spans 26 weeks (for EGH400-1 and EGH400-2 in whole). You will work as a member of a cohesive team with your academic supervisor (and industry supervisor for industry projects) and your student project team, which will be assessed by your academic supervisor in your work performance assessment in EGH400-2 Research Project 2, and which will be reflected in your project proposal, and progress report and presentation in this unit. You will deploy work practices that align to professional practice (such as teamwork, project management, ethics, risk management, stakeholder and audience engagement).
Your assessments in this unit will be marked and totalled at the end of the semester.

• If you do not achieve a passing mark of 50% or higher, you will be awarded a failing grade (1, 2 or 3 on the QUT 7-point grading scale). In such case, you will be required to re-enrol in EGH400-1.
• If you do achieve a passing mark of 50% or higher, then you will not be awarded a grade at the end of the semester. You will continue to EGH400-2 Research Project 2. Once you have completed all requirements of EGH400-2 including achievement of a passing mark, you will receive a final mark that applies to both EGH400-1 and EGH400-2 according to the formula documented in the EGH400-2 unit outline. This mark will be converted to a QUT 7-point grade, and you will be awarded the same grade for EGH400-1 and EGH400-2.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale and S (Satisfactory) / U (Unsatisfactory)

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Project Proposal

You will develop a written report that includes a literature review and project proposal.

This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Assessment: Progress Report and Presentation

You will prepare a written and illustrated report (40% individual).  This part of the assessment is an  assignment for the purposes of an extension. 

With your student project team you will deliver a presentation that summarises this report to your supervisor and marker and fellow students (10% individual and 10% group if group project or 20% individual if individual project). This presentation is not an assignment for the purposes of an extension.

Assessment: Work Performance

Your academic supervisor will observe your individual participation and work performance during meetings and interactions throughout EGH400-1 Research Project 1 and in the following unit EGH400-2 Research Project 2. You are encourage to ask for feedback on your progress at any time. Your academic supervisor will take account of the records of your project, contained within a reporting system suggested by the Unit Coordinator (e.g. Microsoft Teams). In some cases, your supervisor will ask industry partners or other project stakeholders to provide feedback on your individual work performance.

Marks will be awarded for this item as Assessment Number 1 in EGH400-2.

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.

Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Risk Assessment Statement

You will undertake lectures in lecture theatres or online. As such, there are no extraordinary workplace health and safety issues associated with these components of the unit.

You may (depending upon the nature of your project) be required to access QUT laboratories or workshops. Such access will require you to have completed any relevant safety courses, hold relevant safety cards and complete a risk assessment. You must follow all relevant workplace health and safety rules, and follow the instructions of laboratory or workshop staff.

Disclaimer - Offer of some units is subject to viability, and information in these Unit Outlines is subject to change prior to commencement of semester.