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Module MA4492: Project
- Credit weighting (ECTS)
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10 credits
- Semester/term taught
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Michaelmas & Hilary terms 2012-13
- Contact Hours
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Academic year long module (2 terms), meetings with supervisor by arrangement.
Significant independent work is required.
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- Lecturer (coordinator)
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Prof. Richard Timoney
- Learning Outcomes
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This section is A PRELIMINARY DRAFT.
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
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demonstrate competence in independent study at a high mathematical
level, at the forefront of knowledge in a specifically chosen topic
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demonstrate skills in scientific writing
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demonstrate oral presentation skills
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synthesise and apply materials used.
- Module Content
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- Basic Rules
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Senior Sophister students
may choose to take a project/thesis module (MA4492),
provided that the agreement of
the
MA4492 module coordinator is explicitly given and that a member of
staff
is
willing to supervise the work.
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The basic standard of the work should correspond to a 10 credits of
advanced level modules
in depth and difficulty.
Ideally the topic should touch on something in the recent research
literature (paper in a journal or a preprint) or involve a novel
implementation
or calculation.
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A written thesis must be submitted and the
students concerned will also be asked to make an oral presentation of
their work.
Where relevant, any computer source code should be submitted.
The external examiner will assess the marking of the
projects along with examination scripts.
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The Head of the School of Mathematics will
appoint a module MA4492 coordinator for each academic year.
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Students and their project/thesis supervisors should arrange to
meet on a regular basis to discuss the progress of the work.
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Deadlines
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Work on the project must commence before the second week of Michaelmas
term in the Senior Sophister year and the agreement of the MA4492
module
coordinator should be obtained by this time. Students may opt to
discontinue the project before the end of Michaelmas term and change
to a regular (advanced) course.
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The supervisor of the project/thesis should warn the student during
Michaelmas term if the work is not proceeding satisfactorily.
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Theses/Projects should be completed
and submitted three weeks before the end of Hilary term
(which means Friday March 15th in 2013)
and will be subject to
a subsequent viva voce presentation held before the end of
Hilary term.
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Theses must be submitted to the module MA4992 coordinator who will
give each student a receipt. (It is most helpful if students submit a
PDF copy of their thesis via email plus one [spiral] bound
hard copy to the coordinator.) The coordinator will
acknowldge receipt via email.
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Each thesis must include a statement
signed by the student that the thesis is their own work except where
due citations are given.
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Marking Criteria
Theses/projects should be marked according to the following criteria
| (i) Reading type project | (ii) Implementation type |
|
|
| w×p | weight w | p%
| | p% | weight w
| w×p |
| 0.10 | | Oral presentation | | 0.10 | |
| 0.05 | | Bibliography | | 0.05 | |
| 0.20 | | Clarity of exposition and style of writing
| | 0.20 | |
| 0.30 | | Understanding of the material | Understanding of the problem and the
background | | 0.25 | |
| 0.25 | | Difficulty of the topic | Appropriate
research method? | | 0.15 | |
| 0.10 | | Originality (students own approach to topic)
| Originality and difficulty of the problem and
progress
| | 0.25 | |
| Total %
| Total %
| |
Here are some of the considerations that will be used by the examiners
in arriving at the marks.
- Oral presentation.
Did the student make a comprehensible
presentation which summarised adequately their main achievements?
Used the time available well?
Did answers to any questions show mastery of the material?
- Bibliography.
Is it there? Is it formatted in a recognisable style used by journals
in the field (with author names, source [journal or publisher], date,
pages)?
Is it adequate in coverage?
- Clarity of exposition and style of writing
Is there clarity and precision in the explanations given? Is there a
clear development of the ideas?
Is the terminology clearly laid out?
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Understanding of the material | Understanding of the problem
and the background
Are the ideas explained and developed in a way
that makes it clear that the student has understood them?
- Difficulty of the topic | Appropriate research method?
Case (i) Difficulty: is this a challenging topic for the student as
compared to
the standard of sophister modules? Has the student made contact with
recent published literature?
Case (ii) Method: has the student gone about the project in a sensible
way?
Modified strategy in the light of early results or difficulties
encountered?
- Originality
In case (i), can you see the students own viewpoint? In case (ii), did
the student succeed and was it a substantial accomplishment?
- Guidelines for the thesis
Students should bear in mind the following
when writing up their work.
- The account should be in the style of a scientific thesis (a
mathematical one, perhaps an expository one);
understandable by a mathematician or theoretical physicist (or
statistician or computer scientist) who may not be in the same field;
- So should have title, your name as the author, chapters or
sections of content and a bibliography.
- Should convey what you have done, as well as you can in a
pedagogical style, and should include discussion of background
material you had to master and any difficulties encountered.
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Start with an abstract, then an overall summary and then some
background.
- We expect an amount of effort and sophistication equivalent to
a full year 5+5 = 10 credit course. Does your write-up show that? It
should also have enough content to show that (and 40 pages is
suggested as a minimum length).
- Don't transcribe stuff. If you find a perfect explanation of
something, it is probably best to refer to it (if it is long anyway).
If you reproduce an explanation in the
literature with your own slant or more explanations of the steps, this
is not a problem. You should cite the sources of things you use.
- Module Prerequisite
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Students must find a member of staff in College willing to
supervise their work and must agree the arrangements with the
coordinator as outlined in the rules below. Please consult the
coordinator for suggestions about suitable
topics and supervisors.
- Assessment Detail
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This module will be 100% continuous assessment.
Written thesis (which should normally exceed 40 pages)
and viva presentation.
