Task 6 | Final Report
What you have to do
This task is about writing a short report on a research problem in a team, under the guidance of mentors.
What the Final Report should address?
Your final report has to take the readers on a journey about your research problem. They start not knowing anything about your research problem. They end understanding the problem, its importance, relevance, and what ways there are to solve/understand the issue further. I.e. you take them on a journey of what, why and how of your research problem.
It is vital that the focus of your report is exclusively on the research problem. Your report does not have to provide complete information nor does your list of references have to be exhaustive. Instead, you should take the reader on a focused journey towards understanding your research problem.
Remember to make the most of the length (about 2800 words) and time (about six weeks) constraints on this task. With the help of your mentors, you need to judiciously pick and focus on the most convincing/impactful/relevant content. You also need to exercise careful judgement on the depth you need to delve into your topic to write the report and prepare for the viva-voce to follow.
Required Sections
The Final Report must contain the items specified below. Please use the template provided to write your Final Report.
- Three Sections (Abstract, Introduction and Significance of the Research Problem, Future directions of the Research Problem)
- Table of contents
- Lists (List of tables, List of figures, List of references)
Templates
| LaTeX | PDF , ZIP |
| Word | DOCX |
Details
| Section | What the section SHOULD to address | Weightage for Content |
|---|---|---|
| Abstract | – Should provide an overview of your report. – Must be clear and succinct. – Should be addressed to a non-specialised audience. – Must address: (1) What is the research problem you are working on? (2) Why this is worth working on. (3) How you can go about solving the problem. – Word limit 300 words. | 30% |
| Introduction and Significance of the Research Problem | – The focus of this section should be to help the reader understand what your research problem is and why your research problem matters? Help the reader see why it is worthwhile spending time on this research problem. – Remember to provide background relevant to the research problem. Be judicious in your choice of content. Put only the material that matters. – Word limit 1500 words | 40% |
| Research Gap and Research Directions | – The focus of this section should be to highlight the gaps in existing knowledge and suggest, where possible, ways (e.g. experimental methods, designs, procedures or protocols) to fill those gaps. Some justification for your suggestion may be given. – Word limit 1000 words | 30% |
Some things to note
- Submit all references: You are required to submit copies of all your references (with the exception of textbooks) along with your final report.
- The graders are allowed to question you about the references you have submitted.
- If you refer to a website, kindly attach a PDF version of the website.
- Please adhere to the format:
Author_year.pdf
- Formatting: Further to the formatting indicated in the template kindly note that
| Item | Instructions |
|---|---|
| Figures and Tables | – As many figures (tables) as you like. – Must bear a caption. – Must be numbered. – Only include figures/tables that are referenced in the main text. – – Tables will contribute to the word limit. |
| Subsections & Sub-sub sections | – You may have as many subsections and you think necessary. Please use sub-sub section sparingly. |
| Page and section breaks | Include as many section or page breaks at your discretion to improve readability. |
| References | Kindly use (only) the numbered (e.g. [2]) referencing style. |
| Word Limit | – You may exceed the word limits by 10% without penalties. – Section titles, captions, references will not count towards the word limits. |
Deliverable & Dates
Deliverable
- A final report (in the format specified below) with a strong focus on a research problem of your choice.
- The list of references.
Dates
| Begins: | Semester 2, Week 1 | Mon 13 Jan |
| Due: | Semester 2, Week 6 | 6 pm Sun 21 Feb |
Rubric
Please note that we will score your report by first granting full scores for the various sections and then deducting marks based on the penalties.
Categories
| 5: Excellent | 4: Good | 3: Average | 2: Below Average | 1: Needs improvement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Displays almost all (≈ 90%) of the indicators. | Displays a vast majority (≈ 75%) of the indicators. | Displays many (≈ 50%) of the indicators. | Displays several (≈ 25%) of the indicators. | Displays a few (≈ 10%) of the indicators. |
Criteria by Sections
| Section | Indicators | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract 20 % | — Clearly and succinctly mirrors the content (i.e. what is the research problem, it’s significance and future directions relevant to the gaps) in the actual report. | |||||
| Introduction & Significance 30 % | — The writing guides the reader (with a general science background) unfamiliar with the research problem to understand what the research problem is and also appreciate its importance. | |||||
| — The authors have judiciously curated the quantity and quality of the content, to achieve the aims (i.e. to introduce what research problem is and why it is significant) of this section. | ||||||
| — Provides sufficient background information such as basic concepts, definitions, statistics, explanation of the research problem and research gap. | ||||||
| — The ideas are well supported by credible sources and previous research findings. | ||||||
| — Where appropriate, ideas are illustrated with clearly laid out graphs and diagrams. | ||||||
| Research Gap & Research Direction 20 % | — The writing informs the reader of possible ways (by identifying gaps) to proceed with the research problem. It highlights (if possible, novel) ways to advance the understanding/solutions of/to the research problem by adding to its body of knowledge. | |||||
| — The authors have judiciously curated the quantity and quality of the content, to achieve the aims (i.e. to highlight gaps in the research problem) of this section. | ||||||
| — Contains accurate scientific evidence that is well elaborated and evaluated. | ||||||
| — The ideas are well supported by credible sources and previous research findings. | ||||||
| — Where appropriate, ideas are illustrated with clearly laid out graphs and diagrams. | ||||||
| Language 30 % | — The sentences and paragraphs are coherent (i.e. the ideas are logically linked and they “flow” very smoothly. There are no gaps between ideas.). | |||||
| — The use of vocabulary and technical terms is precise. | ||||||
| — There is effective use of transitions and signal markers for highlighting ideas/making references to previous studies/ explaining cause and effect/ describing processes/signalling logical relationships/ evaluating/signally a research gap. | ||||||
| — Sentence construction is clear and concise. | ||||||
| — There are few or no grammar, spelling or punctuation errors. |
Penalties
| Item | Description | Penalty | Variation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exceed word limit for a section by 10%. (Penalty = 20% the maximum score for that section) | Abstract (Limit: 300 words) | 4% | |
| Introduction & Significance (Limit: 1500 words) | 6% | ||
| Research Gap and Research Directions (Limit: 1000 words) | 4% | ||
| Figures & Tables | Items present are not referenced in the text. | 5% | 3 or less: 2.5 % 4 or more: 5.0 % |
| Items are not numbered. | 5% | 3 or less: 2.5 % 4 or more: 5.0 % |
|
| Missing or poor (insufficient information to understand the figure or table) captions. | 10% | 3 or less: 5.0 % 4 or more: 10.0 % |
|
| Formatting inconsistencies | Any glaring deviations from the template that get in the way of reading. | 5% | 3 or less: 2.5 % 4 or more: 5.0 % |
| Table of contents, List of tables, List of figures | Missing | 5% | For each missing item |
| Incomplete | 5% | For each item. 3 or less: 2.5 % 4 or more: 5.0 % |
|
| Attachment of references | The files were not submitted. | 10% | |
| Submitted files are incomplete. | 5% | 3 or less: 2.5 % 4 or more: 5.0 % |
|
| The files are not consistently named. | 5% | 3 or less: 2.5 % 4 or more: 5.0 % |
|
| Late submission of report to LumiNUS | 10% |
Why are we doing this?
- This task will bring together all the skills (finding articles, reading articles, scientific writing) you have developed as an individual, into a group setting with dedicated mentors.
- This task requires you to work in a team. This will allow you to help and learn from each other while identifying ways to maximise the quality of work by leveraging on the strengths of each team member. This will be an invaluable learning experience for your research career, as most research today happens in teams. This will also prepare you for SP3172.
Examples from Last Year
Here are two reports from last year for your reference.
Dr Lee's Files