Notice Board

JEE 613 Research Methodology

Writing Titles and Summaries | Writing Reports of Experiments | Home experiments | Curve fitting exercises | Diameter of the Earth | Ethical Case Studies

Aims of the Course

The course aims to give you experience in the general skills needed in scientific and technical research. The course does not give the particular techniques needed in special subject areas because these techniques will be different for each student; they will be given by the university departments and supervisors of students. However, some of these techniques may appear in case studies and practice materials. The general skills to be covered will include:

• Finding information: the organization of libraries, searching the internet.
• Writing reviews of previous research: selecting information, writing titles and summaries, English language structures.
• Writing proposals for new research: stating objectives and how they will be achieved, describing apparatus and experimental methods, assessing resources needed and time schedules.
• Measurement: units of measure, dimensions, accuracy of measurements.
• Analyzing numerical data: equation fitting, statistical analysis, error analysis, interpreting results.
• Communicating results of research: progress reports, papers for conferences and journals, thesis writing.
• Giving a seminar presentation: selection of material, visual presentation, oral presentation.
• Good practice and ethics in research.

These skills will be developed by giving you examples from the history of science, and from current research. You will practice these skills in classroom activities and homework.

Program

Weeks 1 to 7

Instruction and practice in the skills listed above.

Week 8

Mid term examination.

Weeks 9 to 14

Further instruction and practice in the skills listed above.

Final examination.

Grading Standards

The grade for the course will be based on your performance in the following categories:

• A satisfactory record of five homework assignments before the mid term exam.
• A good quality mid term exam result.
• A satisfactory record of five homework assignments after the mid term exam.
• A good quality final exam result.

Details of exams, homework and presentations.

Suggested Reading for the Course

[The references are KMUTT Library call numbers or internet URLs.]

• Finding Information on the Internet, a tutorial by the Library, University of California, Berkeley: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/About.html
• Search the Internet and Find Websites, The Library, University of California, Berkeley. Links to recommended search engines and subject directories: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/find/types/websites.html.
• Experimental Methods for Engineers. J. P. Holman. [T57.37 HOL 1989]
• Design of Thermal Systems, 3rd Edition. W. F. Stoecker. McGraw Hill 1989. [TJ261 STO 1989, one reference copy and four circulation copies]
• Experimentation and Uncertainty Analysis for Engineers. Coleman and Steele. [R TA 153 COL 1989]
• Theories of Engineering Experimentation, Third Edition. Hilbert Schenck. McGraw-Hill 1979. [R TA 152 SCH]
• The Internet Grammar of English. University College London. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/
• Oxford Student's Dictionary of English. Oxford University Press, 2001.
• Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary and Thesaurus. http://www.m-w.com/
• English as a Second Language (ESL) Handouts and Resources. On Line Writing Lab, Purdue University. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/index.html

You will also be given photocopied materials for study, and will be expected to make your own notes from lectures in the classroom. Some of the notes are available on this web site.

By R. H. B. Exell, 2004. King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi.