CH3PRJNU: Research Project

Module code: CH3PRJNU

Module provider: Chemistry; School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy

Credits: 40

Level: Level 3 (Honours)

When you'll be taught: Semester 1 / 2

Module convenor: Dr James Hallett, email: j.e.hallett@reading.ac.uk

NUIST module lead: Mingxia Song, email: smx839@163.com

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 5 August 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

To give students the experience of working on an extended project researching a preferred topic using the tools of modern chemistry. The module will enable students to develop academic skills in chemistry techniques, computation, independent thought and practice and to express those ideas in written and oral presentations of the work and its context.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Appreciate how to tackle a problem which requires many steps to solve.
2. Know how to search the literature for previous relevant work.
3. Implement necessary experiments to solve the problem they are tackling.
4. Present their results in a logical and legible form in their written report, to give an oral presentation of their work and be able to respond to questions on their presentation.
5. Search the chemical literature and build on this knowledge in an extended project.

Module content

The Project Handbook outlines in full complete details for delivery and assessment of the research project and the details in the handbook should be referred to. Projects are carried out over the 12 weeks of Semester 1 with the project presentation and write up of the project report being developed in Semester 2. Students undertaking projects are assigned to work with a member of academic staff within one of the research teams or project groups, wherever possible taking into account student preference. Students may opt to undertake an individual literature review as a project or choose to carry out a project of an educational nature as alternatives to laboratory work.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

150 hours practical work over 12 week period (practical includes computational and theory).

Please note that laboratory supervision will be available during each of the semesters and the amount provided would depend upon the nature of the project being undertaken.

Study hours

At least 1 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Practice Project Presentations, Semester 1 week 6. These encourage students to think about their projects as they reach the midpoint of the practical work. The obtain useful feedback from academic staff in the presentation sessions and also peer support from other students.

Reassessment

Additional costs