MEC6410 Research practice in mechanical and aerospace engineering
Faculty of Engineering
MEC6410 Research practice in mechanical and aerospace engineering is a level 6, 0-credit-point, postgraduate unit from the Faculty of Engineering, offered in 2020 in Semester 2 at Clayton. It has no prerequisites.
- Credit points
- 0
- Offered in 2020
- Semester 2
- Clayton
- Assessment
- No exam
- 5 tasks
- Workload
- 144 hours
- per semester
The 2027 handbook has no page for MEC6410. This is its 2020 entry, the latest one.
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Requisites
Before MEC6410
Corequisites
Pass these before, or take them in the same semester.
After MEC6410
No unit lists MEC6410 as a prerequisite in the 2020 handbook.
Enrolment rules
Prerequisite: For students enrolled in a PhD in mechanical, aerospace or mechatronics only.
Prohibition: MEC5410
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 | Clayton | On campus |
Assessment
- Workshop activities20%
- Research proposal20%
- Peer-review of proposal15%
- Response to peer review15%
- 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, and 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 approachSimulation or virtual practice
- Teaching approachActive learning
- Teaching approachOnline learning
- Teaching approachPeer assisted 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.
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 other's proposals and submit rejoinders
Workshops will involve activities to help explain the application of the Scientific Method to analyse the logical structure of research proposals and reports.
Recorded lectures will explain concepts in logical and critical thinking, and the philosophy of science.
Workshop activities and assignments will be team-based to enable students to learn concepts deeply through discussion and explanation to each other
Learning resources
Recommended resources
Merrilee Salmon, "Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking", Cengage Learning, 2012.
Contacts
- Chief Examiners
- Dr Prabhakar Ranganathan
- Unit Coordinators
- Dr Prabhakar Ranganathan
Common questions
What are the prerequisites for MEC6410?
None, but you must take ERU0013 or ERU0005 before or alongside it.
When is MEC6410 offered?
In 2020, MEC6410 runs in Semester 2 at Clayton.
How much work is MEC6410?
The handbook expects about 144 hours of study across the semester. No students have rated its difficulty yet.
Does MEC6410 have an exam?
No. MEC6410 has 5 assessment tasks and no exam.
More details
- Credit points
- 0
- Level
- 6
- Study level
- Postgraduate
- Faculty
- Faculty of Engineering
- Organisational unit
- Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
- Type
- Coursework
- EFTSL
- 0
- Student contribution
- SCA Band 2
- Study abroad
- Not available
- Handbook years
- 2020