Optimizing Research Project Execution for Final Year Students at UNIKLMICET FYP Workshop

1. EXECUTION OF FINAL YEAR PROJECT Azizan Mohd. Noor UniKLMICET FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

2. Content of this workshop • Project execution: • Azizan Mohd. Noor • Literature and information gathering : • Dr. Nadja Razali • Data treatment: • Pn. Zaida Rahayu FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

3. Content of my talk • Overview of the research process • Research topics, questions and proposal preparation • Literature review, conceptual framework and research design • Research methods • Writing research proposal FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

4. What is a university? A place where knowledge is created, challenged, understood and imparted FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

5. What is research? Research is a systematic planned approach of looking at a problem. FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

6. Why do research? • Solve problems • Make scientifically based decisions to improve something • Develop a procedure or product • Evaluate a procedure or product • Better understanding of a problem • Advancement of knowledge • Training aspects • Satisfaction of discovery FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

7. Outcomes of Research • Degree – expert in the field • Career • Money • Contribute to science • Contribute to society/country FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

8. Why important? • Putting into practice the theories and practical skills acquired over the last 6 semesters • The pinnacle of ‘hands-on’ training • Indicator of research aptitude – prospect for postgraduate studies FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

9. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION • Over 2 semesters • Project proposal (Semester 1) • Project implementation (Semester 2) FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

10. PROJECT ASSESSMENT Proposal phase: • Progress report 30% • Presentation 35% • Project proposal 35% Implementation phase: • Progress report 20% • Project report 50% • Project presentation 30% FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

11. PROPOSAL • First step in implementing a research project • Indicator of your understanding of the research project • Outlines the feasibility/viability of the research project FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

12. COMPONENTS OF A RESEARCH PROPOSAL • Title • Problem statement • Background study • Objectives • Methodology FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

13. TITLE • Represents what you actually plan to do • Sometimes useful to use catchy phrases or direct statement to make your title more interesting • Important when your proposal is being evaluated for some competition - funding, prize, scholarship • Be creative but most important, be precise and accurate FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

14. Example of title selection Project: Measure O2, nitrite, nitrate, pH in Merbok area, use data and apply in mathematical model 5555 and use model to assess/predict ecosystem behaviour FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

15. POSSIBLE TITLES • Title 1: Water quality and mathematical model in environmental studies • Title 2: Fluctuation of O2, nitrite, nitrate and pH in Merbok estuarine area and application of data in mathematical modelling for ecosystem prediction and assessment • Title 3: Monthly fluctuation of crucial water parameters in the Merbok estuarine area and its application in bio-modelling FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

16. PROBLEM STATEMENT(S) • A hypothesis? • A hunch? • Can be general or broad in nature FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

17. BACKGROUND • Reviews the current status of knowledge in the area of study in relation to your research project • What are already common knowledge? • What are still unknown? Knowledge gaps? • Is the project you are doing a repetition of work already done? • Also provides methodologies that can be adopted in your work FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

18. OBJECTIVES • These are statements qualifying what you wish to achieve in the project in relation to your problem statement • Can use specific phrases such as ‘to measure’, ‘to compare’, ‘to assay’, ‘to isolate’, ‘to determine’ etc • Very closely related to the actual experiments you are planning to do FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

19. METHODOLOGY • Describe precisely how the experiments are to be done • Proper citations – record author(s), year, journal title, volume, page numbers • Are the experiments ‘DO-ABLE’ here in our laboratories? Discuss with your supervisor! • List material/equipment requirements and place order early! FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

20. PROJECT PLANNING AND EXECUTION • Prepare a time-line for the project – Gantt chart - must take into account holidays, exams, writing-up, submission dates • Very little time..so preparation must be meticulous – there may not be time for repeat experiments • Experiments must be so designed such that results can be presented either graphically or tabulated and amenable for statistical analyses FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

21. DOCUMENTATION • All experimental procedures, raw and processed data are to be recorded in a hard-cover LABORATORY BOOK • The lab book is the property of your lab and is to be left with the lab after completion of project! • All raw data must be processed as soon as possible FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

22. DOCUMENTATION (cont’d) • Thesis writing should start on Day 10 of project – thesis writing is both laborious and time consuming! • Format of theses – similar to past years • Completed sections can be submitted to supervisor for corrections/comments as and when they are ready; do not leave it to the last day! FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

23. RESEARCH ETHICS • DO NOT CHEAT! • present the data you obtained experimentally and not what you think it should be! • DO NOT PLAGIARIZE! • ‘Cut-n-paste’ is not an acceptable practice! If you have to use certain phrases from a particular source, credit must be given to original author(s) FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014

24. GOOD LUCK AND DO YOUR BEST FYP Workshop MICET 8 Oct. 2014