NATS 3015 Field Project 1

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Credit Points 10

Legacy Code 300913

Coordinator Nijat Imin Opens in new window

Description Unit 300913 Field Project 1 and the associated unit 300914 Field Project 2 are designed as capstone units of study for either the Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Natural Science degrees. They draw together the skills acquired in previous years of the course and apply them in the context of either a six-month or a year-long research project exploring a real world problem on behalf of an industry, government or community agency client. The student will develop skills in scoping, planning, implementing, reporting on the research project; reflecting on what has been learned in the context of their personal and professional development and how this can be used in future career planning. In this Field Project 1 unit the focus is on developing skills in designing an appropriate research project in collaboration with the industry client, contextualising the problem and appropriate research methods in the academic literature, developing and implementing a pilot study to test the proposed research methods, and reporting the results. Note: Students enrolling in the external offering of this unit must be externally enrolled in either the Bachelor of Science (Environmental Health) or Bachelor of Natural Science (Environment and Health) degrees. All other students enrolling externally will need Unit Coordinator approval.

School Science

Discipline Natural and Physical Sciences, Not Elsewhere Classified.

Student Contribution Band HECS Band 2 10cp

Check your HECS Band contribution amount via the Fees page.

Level Undergraduate Level 3 subject

Pre-requisite(s) NATS 2028 OR
NATS 2025

Equivalent Subjects NATS 3016 - Field Project 1

Restrictions Students enrolling in the external offering of this subject must be externally enrolled in either the Bachelor of Science (Environmental Health) or Bachelor of Natural Science (Environment and Health) degrees. All other students enrolling externally will need subject Coordinator approval.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to:

Design a project to assist the chosen client to improve a situation using academic research skills and resources in an ethical manner.
Evaluate chosen methods in a small scale pilot and revise methods in light of this.
Develop relationships and rapport with industry and academic professionals including: communicating with a client, maintaining a professional relationship, and effectively responding to feedback from the client and the project supervisor.
Problem solve uncertain/unforeseen factors and to negotiate changes and deal with risk.
Apply effective time management and reflect on the research process by maintaining a study journal and field notebook.
Search, identify, organise, compare and contrast data collected from a variety of sources.
Critically reflect on progress with and development of skills for independent study.

Subject Content

1. Design of a field-based research project undertaken for an industry client
- Identify the nature of the issue/problem the client wishes the student to study ? clearly identifying the research question(s) and developing a plan for tackling the study that is S.M.A.R.T. (Strategic, Manageable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-constr
- identify The context of Study in terms of appropriate history, Background literature (secondary data) and write A literature Review
- identify research methods considered appropriate for The collection of primary (field) data for The Study Methodological options for The Study and justify The choice of these in A draft Progress report on The Progress of designing The study.
- design A pilot Study that tests The methods for field data collection (including obtaining any necessary human or Animal research ethics clearances for this Study to proceed)
- conduct A pilot, Reflect on The lessons from this and redesign The methods to be used for The main Study ? including any revisions to ethics approvals required.
- plan The collection and organisation of (primary) data in The field, and indicate how this data will be analysed, and The results presented to The client.
2. Reporting on progress in development of the study ? meeting appropriate milestones
- management in The preparation for class Activity, completion of assignments, and T

Assessment

The following table summarises the standard assessment tasks for this subject. Please note this is a guide only. Assessment tasks are regularly updated, where there is a difference your Learning Guide takes precedence.