This module covers research skills that fall into two main areas: Transferable skills, such as document preparation, report writing, oral presentation, time management, and intellectual property rights. Information skills, such as retrieving and recording bibliographic information from manual and computerised sources.
For formal details about the module aims, learning outcomes and assessment you should look at the official Module Description Page and Syllabus Page.
Here's an outline of the module structure and lecture timetable. All the module handouts
will be made available here as pdf files shortly after the paper versions are distributed in
the lectures. The lectures will each be given by one of three people:
| Week |
Session 1 Tuesdays 3:00-4:00pm |
Session 2 Thursdays 2:00-3:00pm |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction to Research Skills (JB) [pdf] | Literature Searching (AS) [pdf] |
| 2 | Computer Aided Searching (AS) [pdf] | Further Search Techniques (AS) [pdf] |
| 3 | Document Preparation and LaTeX (CB) [pdf] | Using LaTeX and BibTeX (CB) [pdf] |
| 4 | LaTeX Stylesheets, Tables and Figures (CB) [pdf] | LaTeX Software and IDEs (CB) [html] |
| 5 | Continuous Assessment Specification (JB) [html] | Writing (AS) [pdf] |
| 6 | Writing Abstracts (AS) [pdf] | Citing and Referencing (AS) [pdf] |
| 7 | Presentation Skills (AS) [pdf] | Preparing Slides and Posters (AS) [pdf] |
| 8 | Work Management (AS) [pdf] | Intellectual Property Rights (JB) [pdf] |
| 9 | Presentations, Discussion & Feedback (JB) | Presentations, Discussion & Feedback (JB) |
| 10 | Presentations, Discussion & Feedback (JB) | Presentations, Discussion & Feedback (JB) |
| 11 | Presentations, Discussion & Feedback (JB) | Presentations, Discussion & Feedback (JB) |
The web-pages containing the Timetable, Titles and Abstracts for the MSc student presentations in Weeks 9-11, and the Timetable, Titles and Abstracts for the PhD student presentations in January 2008, will be updated the day before each presentation session.
Assessment is 100% continuos assessment based on an oral presentation (35%) and a written report (65%). The deadline for the written report will be 12noon Thursday 13 December 2007. Here are the full Continuous Assessment Specification and the MSc Student Presentation Timetable, and the PhD Student Presentation Timetable.
The recommended books for this module are:
| Title | Author(s) | Publisher, Date | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essential Communication Strategies: For Scientists, Engineers and Technology Professionals | Herbert Hirsch | Wiley, 2003 | Not essential for this module. Provides the tricks of the trade for becoming a great technical communicator. |
| LaTeX: A Document Preparation System | Leslie Lamport | Addison-Wesley, 1994 | Not essential for this module, but certainly a useful book to own. |
| The LaTeX Companion | Michel Goossens, Frank Mittelbach & Alexander Samarin | Addison-Wesley, 1994 | Not essential for this module, but a useful LaTeX book to own. |
| The Chicago Manual of Style (14th Edition) | - | University of Chicago Press, 1993 | Not essential for this module. Guide to preparation of papers and reports, including referencing. |
| MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (2nd Edition) | Joseph Gibaldi | Modern Language Association of America, 1998 | Not essential for this module. Guide to preparation of papers and reports, including referencing. |
Andrea Soltoggio's list of search engines and catalogues.
Texmaker : Free cross-platform LaTeX editor. For your convenience, this has been installed on all the machines in the Linux Lab - just enter "texmaker" at the Unix prompt.
TexShop : Free LaTeX editor for Mac OS X.
JabRef : Reference Manager.
Peter Coxhead's Referencing Style Guide.