COMP489 (2024) - Research Project

Prescription

A research project on a topic approved by the Head of School.

Course learning objectives

Students who pass this course should be able to:

1. The 489 projects are the capstone course of the honours degrees, be they 4 year BE degrees or 1 year Science Honours degrees. The aim of the projects is for you to deeply explore a topic and project that interests you under the supervision of an academic(s), or an academic and industry supervisor.

Course content

We’ve designed this course for in-person study, and to get the most of out it we strongly recommend you attend lectures on campus. Most assessment items, as well as tutorials/seminars/labs/workshops will only be available in person. Any exceptions for in-person attendance for assessment will be looked at on a case-by-case basis in exceptional circumstances, e.g., through disability services or by approval by the course coordinator.
 
If you started your programme of study remotely and can only study remotely, please contact the School so we can help and confirm what courses are available.
 
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COMP/ELCO projects are based on the creation of new knowledge through research. Such projects should aim at making novel contributions to the academic research literature. COMP/ELCO students are expected to demonstrate mathematical rigour (where appropriate), and use scientific experimentation to make critical observations. The literature survey for COMP/ELCO projects will typically draw on research papers in journals and conferences. Students should consult with their supervisor(s) and/or the course coordinator if they are unsure as to whether their projects are appropriate COMP/ELCO projects.

Withdrawal from Course

Withdrawal dates and process:
https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/students/study/course-additions-withdrawals

Lecturers

Teaching Format

A schedule of lecture topics will be available online. Regular meetings will be held nearly every week (in consultation with your supervisor).

Dates (trimester, teaching & break dates)

• Teaching: 26 February 2024 - 31 May 2024
• Break: 01 April 2024 - 14 April 2024
• Study period: 03 June 2024 - 06 June 2024
• Exam period: 07 June 2024 - 22 June 2024
• Teaching: 08 July 2024 - 11 October 2024
• Break: 19 August 2024 - 01 September 2024
• Study period: 14 October 2024 - 17 October 2024
• Exam period: 18 October 2024 - 09 November 2024

Set Texts and Recommended Readings

Required

There is no textbook. But there is a handbook (available on the course Wiki).

Mandatory Course Requirements

In addition to achieving an overall pass mark of at least 50%, students must:

• Deliver the final oral presentation.
• Submit the final report.
• Maintain a current copy of all work on University-approved storage systems.

If you believe that exceptional circumstances may prevent you from meeting the mandatory course requirements, contact the Course Coordinator for advice as soon as possible.

Assessment

Your grade will be determined through an assessment of the two reports and your presentation.

• Preliminary Assessment - 20%
• Final report and oral presentation - combined 80%

The Preliminary Assessment grade will only be counted towards your final grade if it improves your grade.

Assessment Item	Due Date or Test Date	CLO(s)	Percentage
Preliminary report (approximately 10 pages), worth up to 20% of the final grade	Report on Week 12 of T1.	CLO: 1	20%
Final report and presentation	Report on Week 12 of T2, Presentation in the T2 assessment period.	CLO: 1	80%

Penalties

Late submissions will be penalized and extensions will not be given without prior arrangement with supervisors and the course coordinators. A penalty of one grade per day of lateness will be applied (i.e. A- would be reduced to a B+).

Extensions

Individual extensions will only be granted in exceptional personal circumstances, and should be negotiated with the course coordinator before the deadline whenever possible. Documentation (eg, medical certificate) may be requested.

Submission & Return

Assignments and reports to be submitted using the ECS online submission system, accessible through the course web pages. Marks and comments will be returned through the ECS marking system, also available through the course web pages.

Group Work

Where appropriate, team projects are permitted. In such case, all reporting items must still be individually prepared and, ideally, each student will do a distinct part of the project (distinct being judged by the project supervisor and course coordinators).

Workload

In order to maintain satisfactory progress in COMP 489, you should plan to spend an average of 10 hours per week on this paper, spread over the 30 weeks that the course runs (i.e. including mid-trimester breaks). During term time, a plausible and approximate breakdown for these hours would be:

• Lectures/tutorials: Will be notified as and when needed..
• Project work: 10 hours per week.

NOTE: It is very important for you to ensure that you put enough time in your project. Your supervisor can give you warnings if your progress is slow due to lack of efforts. After three warnings, the associate dean will arrange a meeting with you to discuss your progress and ways of improvement.
 
NOTE: Time spent for writing research papers (both conference and journal papers) will usually not be counted for your project. If you plan to prepare a research paper during this project, please seek consent from your supervisor.

Teaching Plan

See: https://ecs.wgtn.ac.nz/Courses/COMP489_2024FY/LectureSchedule

Communication of Additional Information

Please refer to the course homepage for information about this course: https://ecs.wgtn.ac.nz/Courses/COMP489_2024FY/

Links to General Course Information

• Academic Integrity and Plagiarism: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/students/study/exams/academic-integrity
• Academic Progress: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/students/study/progress/academic-progess (including restrictions and non-engagement)
• Dates and deadlines: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/students/study/dates
• Grades: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/students/study/progress/grades
• Special passes: Refer to the Assessment Handbook, at https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/documents/policy/staff-policy/assessment-handbook.pdf
• Statutes and policies, e.g. Student Conduct Statute: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/about/governance/strategy
• Student support: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/students/support
• Students with disabilities: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/st_services/disability/
• Student Charter: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/learning-teaching/learning-partnerships/student-charter
• Student Feedback on University courses may be found at: http://www.cad.vuw.ac.nz/feedback/feedback_display.php
• Terms and Conditions: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/study/apply-enrol/terms-conditions/student-contract
• Turnitin: http://www.cad.vuw.ac.nz/wiki/index.php/Turnitin
• University structure: https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/about/governance/structure
• The Use of Te Reo Māori for Assessment Policy:
  Victoria University values te reo Māori. Students who wish to submit any of their assessments in te reo Māori must refer to The Use of Te Reo Māori for Assessment Policy
  He mea nui te reo Māori ki te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o te Ika. Ki te pīrangi koe ki te tuhituhi i ō aro matawai i roto i te reo Māori, tēnā me mātua whakapā atu ki te kaupapa here, The Use of Te Reo Māori for Assessment Policy
• VUWSA: http://www.vuwsa.org.nz

Offering CRN: 1027

Points: 30
Duration: 26 February 2024 - 10 November 2024
Starts: Trimester 1+2
Campus: Kelburn