Environmental Project

The main aims of the Project Course could be summarized as follows:

• Define a set of objectives and appropriate methodology,
• Provide an opportunity for you to apply and integrate the knowledge from the Environmental Studies Program and/or your workplace,
• Develop skills in planning, managing and scheduling various tasks required to solve a set of problem,
• Fully develop and exploit your knowledge and skills in the profession of environmental science,
• Build up your skill to present a well-structured written account of the techniques, methods and findings in an academic paper.

Schedule

No formal tutorial will be organized, but group meetings with the staff will be arranged from time to time.

Literature survey, field study and experimental works will be major activities in a research project. Staff from the School concerned will advise on the activities to be taken in this course.

Student will have the first meeting in the first week (see Timetable above). Other meetings will be arranged based on mutual understandings.

The program will be developed in a rational sequence. Students will be briefed the general objectives of the Project course and the available project topics to be sorted out after discussion.

The advisor will outline the broad research strategy, to assess your strengths and weaknesses and to agree on a preliminary literature survey and reading list. In general, projects for the Project Course are expected to include both an investigative component and a design or integrative element.

By the 3rd week, you should be well under way with searching the literature and preparing work outlines, such as surveys or experiments, for an Initial Report in the 11th week. During this period you can expect tutorial help specifically directed to this kind of preparation and introduction of additional experimental techniques. After reviewing your initial report, your advisor will see whether the proposal is fit for progression or revision is necessary.

We hope that this course is the only HKMU course you have registered during that semester, because you will be busy working on your project from the start of the schedule.

You are required to submit an Interim Report in the 25th week. This report is reviewed and advice will be given for the final report. The interim-report should show that you have completed at half of the objectives in the proposal.

It is strongly recommended that you keep a project diary during the academic year. At the very least this should be checked against your weekly objectives and should contain details of what you have learnt and the time you have taken. You should seriously consider including this approach in your study plan. You will find this useful when you come to write your Final Report, and it could come in handy at the oral examination when the internal examiner is asking questions about the progress of the project. It is of course valueless unless you keep an honest week-by-week record of what you do.

Project Courses in any conventional universities aim to equip students with independent abilities in organizing, analysing and integrating information; with decision on and implementation of a workable plan to solve a particular problem as an ultimate end. Therefore the training obtained by successful project students can be a valuable asset whether they want to succeed in their future career or proceed with academic research.

The focus of project should not be either too narrow or too wide. To some extent the aims should be adjusted within the context of the level of work expected and the time available. It is preferable to constrain the scope so that the project can be completed without leaving a large number of questions unanswered. However, if this can only be done at the cost of trivializing the problem, you will have to reassess your aims. No one expects you to define these perfectly at the beginning of your project, which is why we ask you to reiterate your aims and objectives in both the initial and interim reports.

Commitment can be divided into time and attitude components. The study time is expected to be 600 hours, but because of the stop-start nature of the project work it is inevitable that you will take more time than this, especially if you have to finish considerable amount of experimental work. Remember that experiments may fail and people may work at different rates. There are ups and downs in all project work and these can be very demoralising. Coping with them constructively and overcoming depression are the important aspects for a successful training. If you do appear to be on the wrong track, make sure you contact your advisor without delay.

Your attitude to the project course can only be revealed in the project development stage and your performance in that course will always be counted toward the overall course score.

A research project is academic in nature. It is to do with learning, choosing, sifting of evidence, and backing conclusions based on fundamental concepts and sound evidence.

6.1 General

There is a continuous assessment element in the course which comprises three assignments and, where necessary, an oral examination. The weightings toward overall course score (CS) for each component are:

Note: Oral examination is required for students identified by the standardization committee (IE, EE, and course coordinator) as borderline cases or for further clarification of project work involved.

To gain at least a pass you will have to:

Result status will be awarded in accordance with the OU system:

OCS, OES and OCAS are used to determine the Pass 4 and 5 (fail) status. Any higher result status (Pass 1 to Pass 3) is based on the OCS only.