MSc Key Skills for MSc by Research Ocean and Earth Science Students

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Write a well-structured scientific report
• Critically research, evaluate and synthesise the findings of peer-reviewed publications
• Work as a Team
• Understand the scientific method, formulate research questions, hypotheses, aims and objectives
• Write articles that communicate research effectively to non-specialist audiences
• Understand the basis for planning research field or laboratory work to meet research objectives
• Structure an academic literature review
• Use data processing software to analyse datasets

Workshops and lecture sessions covering the material in this course take place through Semester 1. Self-study materials are also available in some cases. Sessions will cover the following areas:

Communication and research skills:

• Ethics and Academic Integrity,
• The Scientific Method,

oformulating hypotheses, aims and objectives

• Planning research field and lab work

orisk assessment

oplanning and costing research

odata collection methods and technologies

• Writing and presenting research findings

oCritical evaluation of research literature

oWriting an academic literature review

o Creating and presenting research seminars

oPreparing posters for presentation

oWriting a research proposal

oCommunicating research to wider audiences

IT and data analysis:

• Introduction to data processing and analysis
• Data presentation

Teaching and learning methods

Communication and Research Skills: These sessions provide students with training and experience in writing research papers, critically assessing literature and preparing academic literature reviews, scoping research needs and presenting results in seminars, posters and communication with the wider public. Students will also participate in Semester 1 MSc boat week activities that will produce data sets for analysis within this module.

IT & Data Analysis: These sessions cover the fundamentals of data analysis, presentation and visualization and introductions to relevant data analysis and plotting software.

A wide range of support can be provided for those students who have further or specific learning and teaching needs.

Resources & Reading list

General Resources

Students in Southampton will be introduced to a range of either commercial or open-source software and platforms to support their studies, data analysis and literature searching..

Assessment strategy

Boatwork Report (10%): Students will prepare a report based on the data they collect during the MSc field/boatwork week, presenting the motivation (hypothesis) for the study and methods, appropriate risk assessment, overview of data collected, analyses performed, and evaluation of hypothesis. Formatted as for field/cruise reports for larger research expeditions. Tests Learning Outcomes 3, 4, 5, 6, 8.

Literature Review (70%): Students are required to prepare a <6000 word academic literature review on a title related to the area of their project, set by the project supervisor. Tests Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

Research Proposal (20%): A description of work planned during the research project and its significance, following a form that mimics those used by funding agencies. Tests Learning Outcomes 1, 4, 5, 7, and 8.

Popular science article (Formative exercise): Students are required to write a New Scientist-style news article about a recent paper in marine science, following training in how to communicate with non-specialist audiences. Tests Learning Outcome 1 and 7

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External