ENG6410 Research practice in engineering
Faculty of Engineering
ENG6410 Research practice in engineering is a level 6, 6-credit-point, postgraduate unit from the Faculty of Engineering, offered in 2020 in Semester 2 at Malaysia. It has no prerequisites.
- Credit points
- 6
- Offered in 2020
- Semester 2
- Malaysia
- Assessment
- No exam
- 5 tasks
- Workload
- 144 hours
- per semester
This is the 2020 handbook entry. See the 2027 entry.
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Requisites
Before ENG6410
No prerequisites or corequisites besides the enrolment rules below.
After ENG6410
No unit lists ENG6410 as a prerequisite in the 2020 handbook.
Enrolment rules
This unit is available only to Engineering PhD students.
Overview
The goal of the unit is to introduce graduate researchers to the practice of research. It is founded on perspectives from the Philosophy of Science (PoS) which addresses questions of what science is and what it means to be a scientist. The unit firstly introduces the structure of scientific arguments and aims to demonstrate how a knowledge of this structure can enable critical thinking and scientific communication. The unit also aims to make graduate researchers aware of the complex social process that modern science is and introduce them to aspects such as research funding, planning and budgeting research projects, research metrics, technology development and commercialisation, intellectual property and patents, current socio-political views of science and scientists, etc.
Offerings in 2020
| Teaching period | Campus | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Second semester | Malaysia | On campus |
Assessment
- Workshop activities20%
- Grant proposal20%
- Review of grant proposal15%
- Rejoinder15%
- Major individual assignment30%
Learning outcomes
When you finish this unit, you should be able to:
- 1
Critically review scientific arguments to identify research questions, discern inductive arguments leading to hypotheses and deductive arguments leading to valid experimental tests.
- 2
Generate a research proposal by applying the hypothetico-deductive framework to a research problem, formulating a research plan, assessing material and human resources required for the research, justifying a research budget.
- 3
Appreciate prevalent sociological perspectives of science and reflect on their consequences for publicly-funded scientific research, such as research quality assessment and metrics.
- 4
Appreciate the steps involved in developing and commercialising technology and the value of scientific skills in this process.
Workload and teaching
- Workshops36 hours
- Teaching approachPeer assisted learning
- Teaching approachSimulation or virtual practice
- Teaching approachOnline learning
- Teaching approachActive learning
Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of 4-6 hours of scheduled learning activities and 6-8 hours independent study per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher-directed learning, peer-directed learning and online engagement. Independent study may include associated readings, assessment and preparation for scheduled activities.
Workshop activities and assignments will be team-based to enable students to learn concepts deeply through discussion and explanation to each other.
Assignments will require teams to submit a research proposal, including administrative details, drafting a budget, preparing mock track record statements etc.; they will also review each others proposals and submit rejoinders.
Recorded lectures will explain concepts in logical and critical thinking and the philosophy of science.
Workshops will involve activities to help explain the application of the Scientific Method to analyse the logical structure of research proposals and reports.
Learning resources
Recommended resources
Merrilee Salmon, "Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking", Cengage Learning, 2012.
Where it fits
ENG6410 is part of 1 area of study in the 2020 handbook.
Contacts
- Chief Examiners
- Assoc Professor Poh Phaik Eong
- Unit Coordinators
- Assoc Professor Poh Phaik Eong
Common questions
What are the prerequisites for ENG6410?
ENG6410 has no prerequisites, but enrolment rules apply.
When is ENG6410 offered?
In 2020, ENG6410 runs in Semester 2 at Malaysia.
How much work is ENG6410?
The handbook expects about 144 hours of study across the semester. No students have rated its difficulty yet.
Does ENG6410 have an exam?
No. ENG6410 has 5 assessment tasks and no exam.
Which majors and minors include ENG6410?
ENG6410 is part of Engineering PhD program.