Graduate School of The Environment
GSE851 Capstone Project
About this Unit
Semester 2, 2008
Offered: X1, X2 - External delivery; First Half-Year and Second Half-Year
Convenor: Associate Professor Rob Harcourt
Prerequisite: Permission of Unit Convenor
Credit Points: 8
This unit is designed to allow students to undertake a substantive independent research project provided by industry partners and undertaken in the field, supervised jointly by university academic staff and industry experts. This is designated a capstone project, allowing students to bring together and apply material learnt in the course to a real world problem.
Teaching Staff
Convenor: Associate Professor Rob Harcourt
Phone: (02) 9850 7970
Fax: (02) 9850 7972
Email: rharcour@gse.mq.edu.au
Classes
Enrolling students must contact the unit convenor before enrolling in the unit to seek approval of their project outline.
Contract Proposal
The Contract Proposal (max 2 pages) must be submitted to Rob Harcourt by an agreed upon date within the first month of semester.
Requirements for acceptable proposals are:
- The program must involve a minimum of 320 hours work.
- The project must be able to be completed, and assessment material submitted in the semester in which the unit is commenced.
- Approval by the unit convenor together with an academic staff member in the Masters area concerned, and agreement to supervise completion of this contract and undertake assessment by a supervisor deemed appropriate by the unit convenors.
Having submitted an initial proposal, it is expected that you will discuss the proposed activity with all the relevant people in order to complete the details of the contract proposal.
Unit web page
The URL for the GSE851 unit webpage is http://www.gse.mq.edu.au/units/GSE851.php
Technology Used and Required
Learning Outcomes
Generic Outcomes
Students will complete this unit with a demonstrated capacity for the following generic skills:
- critical analysis
- written communication
- project management
Specialist Outcomes
In addition, students will gain specific knowledge and expertise relevant to the individual project which they undertake. The expectations with respect to these learning outcomes will be negotiated with each student and their supervisors. This will ensure that each student has clear expectations as to performance requirements and how s/he will be assessed.
Graduate Capabilities Developed
Teaching and Learning Strategy
Projects will be developed under the supervision of a nominated member of academic staff.
Assessment Requirements
Work to be carried out to satisfy the requirements of this unit will be determined on an individual basis in discussion between the student, the unit convenor, and the academic supervisor.
Assessment will be based on a report to be written in the form of a scientific paper (max 5000 words), in which the introduction has been expanded to give a comprehensive review of all relevant literature. The report is due on the last day of the teaching period in each semester. For semester 2, 2008 this date is Friday 14 November, 2008.
The unit will be graded on a HD, D, C, P & F basis.
How Do I Request an Extension?
Examination Conditions
Required and Recommended Texts/Materials
The individual nature of the projects will mean that most resources are unique to each student.
Plagiarism
The University defines plagiarism in its rules: "Plagiarism involves using the work of another person and presenting it as one's own." Plagiarism is a serious breach of the University's rules and carries significant penalties. You must read the University's practices and procedures on plagiarism. These can be found in the Handbook of Postgraduate Studies or on the web at: http://www.student.mq.edu.au/plagiarism/
The policies and procedures explain what plagiarism is, how to avoid it, the procedures that will be taken in cases of suspected plagiarism, and the penalties if you are found guilty. Penalties may include a deduction of marks, failure in the unit, and / or referral to the University Discipline Committee.
The GSE recommends that students familiarise themselves with the information contained on the Georgetown University Honor Council website which discusses plagiarism in an easy to understand and comprehensive manner.
All assignments will be screened with Turnitin anti-plagiarism software
University Policy on Grading
Academic Senate has a set of guidelines on the distribution of grades across the range from Fail to High Distinction. Your final result will include one of these grades plus a standardised numerical grade (SNG).
On occasion your raw mark for a unit (i.e., the total of your marks for each assessment item) may not be the same as the SNG which you receive. Under the Senate guidelines, results may be scaled to ensure that there is a degree of comparability across the university, so that units with the same past performances of their students should achieve similar results.
It is important that you realise that the policy does not require that a minimum number of students are to be failed in any unit. In fact it does something like the opposite, in requiring examiners to explain their actions if more than 20% of students fail in a unit.
The process of scaling does not change the order of marks among students. A student who receives a higher raw mark than another will also receive a higher final scaled mark.
For an explanation of the policy see:
http://senate.mq.edu.au/rules/Guidelines2003.doc or
http://senate.mq.edu.au/rules/detailedguidelines.doc
Special Consideration Policy
The University is committed to equity and fairness in all aspects of its learning and teaching. In stating this commitment, the University recognises that there may be circumstances where a student is prevented by unavoidable disruption from performing in accordance with their ability.
The Special Consideration Policy is instituted to support students who experience serious and unavoidable disruption such that they do not reach their usual demonstrated performance level.
Student Support Services
Macquarie University provides a range of Academic Student Support Services. Details of these services can be accessed at http://www.student.mq.edu.au.
Advice for Students with Disabilities/Health Conditions
The Equity Support Unit (ESU) provides support and assistance to students with a disability / health condition in aiming to ensure that they do not experience disadvantage in reaching their academic potential. Service provision is determined on a case-by-case basis following an assessment of a student's needs and the provision of supporting documentation. Service provision is also dependent on the availability of resources.
To register with ESU, download an Advice of Disability / Health Condition form from http://www.reg.mq.edu.au/academic-index.html. This form must be completed annually, irrespective of whether a disability / health condition is temporary, long-term or permanent. Students wishing to request support services from the ESU should make an appointment to see a Disability Advisor immediately after enrolling at Macquarie University.
Phone: (02) 9850 6494/7497
Fax: (02) 9850 6063
TTY: (02) 9850 6493
Email: equity@mq.edu.au
In person: Level 2, Lincoln Building (C8A), Macquarie University
Website: http://www.sss.mq.edu.au/equity
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