DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING

HANDBOOK 2011/2012

MSc Electrical Engineering MSc/PGDip Electrical Technology for Sustainable & Renewable Energy Systems MSc/PGDip Power Electronics & Drives MSc/PGDip Photonic & Optical Engineering MSc Electronic and Ultrasonic Instrumentation MSc/PGDip Electronic Communications & Computer Engineering

Table of Contents 1. 2. 3. 4. Introduction Staff Module Entry Course Structure 4.1 Timetable 4.2 Taught Material 4.3 Laboratory Work and Coursework 4.4 Project Assessment 5.1 General Assessment Rules 5.2 Taught Material 5.3 Project 5.3.1 Interim Report 5.3.2 Final Thesis 5.3.3 Bench Inspection 5.3.4 Weighting of the Elements of Assessment 5.4 Extenuating Circumstances 5.5 Dissertation Marking Guidelines 5.6 Plagiarism and Use of Other Peoples' Work Study Patterns Books, References and Learning Materials 7.1 Past Examination Questions Staff and Personal Tutors Disability Liaison Officer Information Facilities and Safety IT Services Appendix Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 7 Page 7 Page 9 Page 9 Page 14 Page 15 Page 15 Page 16 Page 18 Page 18 Page 18 Page 19 Page 21 Page 22 Page 22 Page 22 Page 23 Page 23 Page 23 Page 23 Page 24

5.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Acknowledgements: The author is grateful for the initial template of this document provided by Dr. Thomas, Prof. Wheeler and Prof. Hayes-Gill

1.

Introduction

Welcome to the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering! This course handbook is designed to complement the Departmental Student Handbook which can be accessed from the Student Intranet web pages at www.nottingham.ac.uk/eee. You may receive from your course director, separate information relevant to your specific course.

Term Dates
Terms: Autumn Term: Spring Term: Summer Term: Semesters: Autumn Semester: Spring Semester: Monday 26 September 2011 Saturday 28 January 2012 Monday 30 January 2012 Friday 22 June 2012 Monday 26 September 2011 - Friday 16 December 2011 Monday 16 January 2012 - Friday 30 March 2012 Monday 30 April 2012 - Friday 22 June 2012

2.

Staff

Course Directors
Dr Arthur Williams Tower Building room 505 arthur.williams@nottingham.ac.uk Courses: MSc Electrical Engineering MSc Electrical Technology for Sustainable & Renewable Energy Systems PGDip Electrical Technology for Sustainable & Renewable Energy Systems MSc Power Electronics & Drives PGDip Power Electronics & Drives Dr Slawek Sujecki Tower Building room 705 slawomir.sujecki@nottingham.ac.uk Courses: MSc Photonic and Optical Engineering PGDip Photonic and Optical Engineering MSc Electronic and Ultrasonic Instrumentation Dr Yiqun Zhu Tower Building - room 1108 yiqun.zhu@nottingham.ac.uk Courses: MSc Electronic Communications & Computer Engineering PGDip Electronic Communications & Computer Engineering Director of Postgraduate Taught Courses Dr Arthur Williams Tower Building room 505 arthur.williams@nottingham.ac.uk

3.

Module Entry

During Week One you will be given your module entry form. This form needs to be checked and signed by your Course Director and returned to the coursework post boxes in the Student Support Centre in the Engineering and Science Learning Centre by 3pm on Friday 14th October 2011. Optional modules not run by the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering need to be approved by the administering School/Department.

4.

Course Structure
The Masters Course is studied full-time over one academic year The Postgraduate Diploma is studied full-time over 9 months Both have a total of 120 credits of taught modules studied in the Autumn (Semester 1) and Spring (Semester 2) In addition, for the Masters Course a research project worth 60 credits is undertaken in the Summer period giving a total Masters Course content of 180 credits Students can select a maximum of 75 credits of taught modules in any one semester Students who have taken any of the modules outlined on their Course Structure as part of their BEng/MEng degree course at the University of Nottingham are NOT allowed to take modules for a second time (or modules containing a significant amount of similar material to those already taken).

IMPORTANT NOTES: Further information on course structure can be found at http://programmespec.nottingham.ac.uk/nottingham/asp/course_search.asp.

See separate module timetable, which is subject to confirmation, please check all lectures on the Student Portal.

Year Timetable
Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 Week Commencing 26/09/2011 03/10/2011 10/10/2011 17/10/2011 24/10/2011 31/10/2011 07/11/2011 14/11/2011 21/11/2011 28/11/2011 05/12/2011 12/12/2011 19/12/2011 26/12/2011 02/01/2012 09/01/2012 16/01/2012 23/01/2012 30/01/2012 06/02/2012 13/02/2012 20/02/2012 27/02/2012 05/03/2012 12/03/2012 19/03/2012 26/03/2012 02/04/2012 09/04/2012 16/04/2012 23/04/2012 30/04/2012 07/05/2012 14/05/2012 21/05/2012 28/05/2012 04/06/2012 11/06/2012 18/06/2012 25/06/2012 02/07/2012 09/07/2012 16/07/2012 23/07/2012 30/07/2012 06/08/2012 13/08/2012 20/08/2012 27/08/2012 03/09/2012 10/09/2012 Tasks and Deadlines Week One Lectures. Lectures. Lectures. Lectures. Lectures. Lectures. Lectures. Lectures. Lectures. Lectures. Lectures. activities (see separate schedules) Arrange appointment with Course Director Return module entry form Last date for appointment with Course Director

Arrange meeting with Course Director

Christmas Vacation (Private study/revision) Examinations Examinations Lectures. Students to collect project interest form Lectures. Return project interest form to Student Support Centre by 10/02/12 Lectures. Lectures. Receive allocated project Supervisor and Moderator Lectures. Discuss project title and outline with allocated Supervisor Lectures. Lectures. Lectures. Lectures. Easter Period (Private study/revision) Lectures. Interim Report deadline 30/04/12 Lectures. Revision week Examinations Examinations Examinations MSc Photograph (date to be confirmed) Project Week 5 Project Week 6 Project Week 7 Project Week 8 Project Week 9 Project Week 10 Project Week 11 Project Week 12 Project Week 13 Project Week 14 Project Week 16 Project Week 16

Project Options

Project Project Project Project

Week Week Week Week

1 2 3 4

Summer project work

Plagiarism checking deadline 03/08/12

Summer re-sit examinations Summer re-sit examinations Final Thesis submission deadline 03/09/12 MSc Party 04/09/12 Bench Inspection deadline 14/09/12

4.2

Taught Material

Lectures are delivered by several different techniques, some of which are preprepared transparencies, PowerPoint presentations, white board etc. Please ensure that you take sufficient notes at each lecture. All students are strongly recommended to practice past exam questions, which can be obtained either from the Student Portal. During week 8 (week commencing 14/11/11) all students will be expected to arrange a meeting with their course director to discuss their progress and as an opportunity to raise any issues they may have. This meeting will be informal, however it is compulsory and all students must attend an appointment.

4.3

Laboratory Work and Coursework

Some of the subjects have laboratory and coursework requirements. You will find out these requirements at the first lecture for each module. IMPORTANT NOTE: Please attend the first lecture for the modules you take

You must complete the appropriate Coursework Coversheet to accompany all work to be handed in. All course work* should submitted in the post boxes located at the Engineering Student Support Centre in the Engineering and Science Learning Centre. Hand-in instructions will be located at the post boxes. All course work is due by 3.00pm and the post box will be emptied at 3.00 pm daily. Once you have handed in a piece of work you will not be able to retrieve it to make any amendments, it is, therefore, vitally important that you check your work carefully before handing-in. * Project work and dissertations are the exception to the above and can be handed in by the due date specified by the module convenor to the Engineering Student Support Centre reception counter.

Any coursework submitted after the deadline will be subject to penalties. Please see the University Quality Manual at: http://nottingham.ac.uk/quality-manual/assessment/penalties.htm

4.4

Project

It has been known from our project allocation in last few years that a significant number of students want to do a practical project rather than a theoretical one. Therefore, in response to this demand, besides Individual MSc projects, Structured MSc projects are offered this year. When you come to collect your provisional marks for the first semester, you will also be passed a potential project list, which includes all possible MSc projects (Individual projects and Structured projects), and a project interest form. You will be required to choose from a list of potential MSc projects and rank

these in order of preference in your project interest form. Although every effort will be made to match your first priority you should be aware that you may have to settle for either your second, third, fourth or fifth choice depending upon staff availability. Students whose first semester marks exceed 65% will work on individual projects. Students whose marks are below this may be put on structured projects (this will be at the course directors discretion). You will be allocated a project supervisor and a moderator by 20/02/2012 Project work is to begin in the week commencing the 27/02/2012 and will last initially for 4 weeks. It will then continue until the submission date of the Interim Report. The Interim report should be submitted to Student Support Centre in the Engineering and Science Learning Centre before 3.00pm on Monday 30/04/2012. You should also give your supervisor a copy for information, although they are not involved in the assessment. The moderators will mark the Interim report. Therefore, when writing the outline document you should bear in mind that the moderators are allocated at random and may not be at all familiar with the subject of the project. Project work should resume immediately following the final exam of the spring semester. The project is a major piece of engineering work and is likely to include library research, theoretical work, design, construction and testing of a prototype and computer programming. A good project will go beyond the work published in books or papers and contain an element of novelty. Section 5.5 of this handbook contains further information of what markers will be looking for. An essential part of the project involves careful planning and the setting of intermediate targets in order to ensure efficient and effective use of time. All students must keep a daily logbook of work done on the project. This logbook must be kept neat and tidy and include experimental results, circuit diagrams and work carried out each day. All students are strongly advised to maintain regular and frequent contact with their project supervisor i.e. typically one meeting every project week. Two bound copies of the final thesis with two labelled project CDs containing one document of the whole thesis (one CD is a duplicate of the other) should be submitted to the Student Support Centre in the Engineering and Science Learning Centre before 3.00pm on Monday 03/09/2012. Students should arrange bench inspection sometime between Monday 03/09/2012 and Friday 14/09/2012. You are responsible for contacting the moderator and agreeing a mutually convenient time. During the bench inspection, students should be prepared to demonstrate their project to the moderator.

IMPORTANT NOTE: MSc students must NOT be away from Nottingham without the prior consent of their supervisors during the project period.

5. 5.1

Assessment General Assessment Rules

Assessment Rules To qualify for the award of Masters Degree (MSc), full-time candidates shall follow approved courses for at least 12 months, and part-time candidates shall follow approved courses for an equivalent period of part-time study over not less than 24 months and not more than 48 months, resulting in the award of 180 credits at the appropriate level. To qualify for the award of Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip), full-time candidates shall follow approved courses for not less than nine months and not more than 12 months, and part-time candidates shall following approved courses for an equivalent period of part-time study over not less than 21 months and not more than 48 months, resulting in the award of 120 credits at the appropriate level. The pass mark for a module comprising part of a Masters course (MSc) is 50%. The pass mark for a module comprising part of a Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) is 40%. A student who fails one or more modules for the taught stage of the course will still complete that stage and so be awarded the total credit for that stage provided that: (1) they have passed modules worth at least 80 credits, and (2) they have a weighted average for the taught stage of at least 50% with no more than 20 credits of module marks of less than 40% (a weighted average of 40% with no more than 20 credits of module marks of less than 30% for Postgraduate Diploma students). A student will only receive a Masters award if they have successfully completed both the taught and research stages of their course. A student who does not successfully complete the research stage will be awarded: (a) a Postgraduate Diploma if they have a weighted average of 40% or more from 120 credits of taught modules with no more than 20 credits of marks below 30% and a mark of at least 40% in 80 credits, or (b) a Postgraduate Certificate if they have weighted average of 40% or more from 60 credits with no more than 20 credits of marks below 30% and a mark of at least 40% in 40 credits. The summer project is not taken into account in this circumstance. A student who, at the first attempt, has not satisfactorily completed the taught stage or project stage of the course has a right to one re-assessment in each failed module at a time to be specified by the administering School/Department. The MSc Examination Board convenes at the end of October to confirm results and the award of degrees. Departmental staff and External Examiners attend this meeting. The Board also confirms if students are required to take resits in order to achieve their MSc/PGDip. If a student is required to take resits, their resit examinations will usually take place in the following academic year as an external resit candidate. For example, if a student starts their course in September 2011 and is required to take resits, their resit examinations will take place in January 2013 (for semester 1 exams) and

May/June 2013 (for semester 2 exams). External candidates do not attend University for lectures or classes, but only to attend resit examinations. Where resit exams are available in August/September, postgraduate students may take this opportunity if they have a limited number of modules to resit. Students must be aware that if they take this opportunity, they will not be given additional time allowance for their project work, which should continue during the exam period. Students choosing to resit modules must complete all parts of the necessary reassessment (i.e. coursework and examination) at the same time.

Degree Classification Postgraduate Masters and Postgraduate Diploma will be awarded with Merit to students who have satisfied all the requirements of the course and have achieved an overall average of at least 60%. Postgraduate Masters and Postgraduate Diploma will be awarded with Distinction to students who have satisfied all the requirements of the course and have achieved an overall average of at least 70%.

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The MSc Progression Flowchart

MSc Students

` Overall credit weighted average mark below 50% in semester one* No No MSc project mark at least 50% Yes No At least 80 taught credits with each module at least 50% Yes No No more than 20 credits below 40% (for 2009/10 entry onwards) Yes Overall credit weighted average mark at least 70% No Overall credit weighted average mark at least 60% No Overall credit weighted average mark at least 50% No No One reassessment opportunity in all modules less than 50% Yes Yes Yes

Yes

Recommend to PG Diploma

MSc with Distinction

MSc with Merit

MSc

No

MSc project mark at least 50% Yes

No

At least 80 taught credits at least 50% Yes

No

No more than 20 credits below 40% Yes Overall credit weighted average mark at least 50% No A Yes Original credit weighted average at least 70% No Original credit weighted average at least 60% No MSc Yes MSc with Merit Yes MSc with Distinction

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No

No more than 20 taught credits below 30% Yes No At least 80 taught credits at least 40% Yes Overall credit weighted average mark at least 40% for 120 credits of taught modules No Yes Original credit weighted average at least 70% No Original credit weighted average at least 60% No PG Diploma Yes PG Diploma with Merit Yes PG Diploma with Distinction

No

At least 60 taught credits at least 30%

Yes

No

Yes At least 40 taught credits at least 40% Yes Overall credit weighted average mark at least 40% for best 60 credits, with at least 50 credits at level 4 No Termination of course

Yes

PG Certificate

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The PGDip Progression Flowchart (not for students who have completed a project)

PGDip Students

` At least 50% in all semester one modules* No No At least 80 credits at least 40% Yes No No more than 20 credits below 30% Yes Overall credit weighted average mark at least 70% No Overall credit weighted average mark at least 60% No Overall credit weighted average mark at least 40% No One reassessment opportunity in all modules less than 50% No No No more than 20 credits below 30% Yes No At least 80 credits at least 40% Yes No At least 80 taught credits at least 50% Yes No more than 20 credits below 40% No B Yes

Yes

Upgraded to MSc course

Yes

PG Diploma with Distinction

Yes

PG Diploma with Merit

Yes

PG Diploma

Original credit weighted average at least 70% No Original credit weighted average at least 60% No PG Diploma

Yes

PG Diploma with Distinction

Yes

PG Diploma with Merit

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No

At least 60 credits at least 30% Yes

No

At least 40 credits at least 40% Yes

Overall credit weighted average mark at least 40% for best 60 credits, with at least 50 credits at level 4 No Termination of course

Yes

PG Certificate

The full assessment regulations for Taught Masters Degrees, Postgraduate Diploma and Postgraduate Certificate courses can be found in the web page below: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/quality-manual/study-regulations/taughpostgraduate-regulations.htm

5.2

Taught Material

The taught material is assessed by a combination of examinations and in some cases lab reports or other coursework details will be given to you by each module lecturer during the first lecture. The examination format will be explained by the lecturer concerned in his introductory lecture and in the module description. Exam timetables will be available from the Student Portal. At the Examiners discretion students may have one re-sit attempt in the taught units of assessment.

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5.3

Project

The project assessment is based 10% on the interim report, 10% on the bench inspection towards the end of the project and 80% on the Final Thesis.

5.3.1 Interim Report

The Interim Report should not exceed 6 pages (excluding appendix) and should contain the following: An introduction to the project Literature review A concise but complete account of the aims and objectives of the project (see below) A list of proposed deliverables (outcomes) for the project (see below) References/Bibliographies A time plan (see below) As an Appendix, the project specification given to you by the supervisor

Definitions of what is meant by aims and objectives are difficult, and different people interpret them in different ways. However, it is useful to consider the aim(s) as the overall purpose of the project (why it is being done) and the objectives as the main targets to be achieved in meeting the aim. Deliverables will then be closely related to the objectives. For example you might have: Aim: Objectives: To develop a USB based data acquisition system Design and build a PCB board for the system Wri te fi rmware for th e on-board mi cro- controller to c o n t r o l t h e o n - b o a r d A D C ( A n a l o g u e - t o - D i g i t a l Converter) and USB controller Software driver and application programming for the System Deliverables: Get the entire system working ADC performance test, in terms of DC and AC Documentation, such as the system users manual This above is just a short example to illustrate the ideas, probably more objectives would be appropriate for a typical MSc project. Ideally the time plan should be some sort of simple Gantt chart, which shows the main tasks of the project and their estimated duration. Tasks are more detailed than objectives. Following the example above again, the first objective would have a number of tasks (e.g. Schematic design, PCB layout and hardware debugging and so on). The time plan should also show which tasks are consecutive and which are concurrent and include milestones. Milestones are significant objectives in the project for which achievement (or otherwise) can be definitively measured and for which there is a target completion date. Again for the example above, appropriate milestones might be (1) the entire system working, (2) ADC performance test, (3) final thesis submitted. Three milestones should be adequate for most projects. You should make sure that your time plan considers concurrent tasks adequately and is not simply a list of sequential tasks very few projects are like this and concurrent events occur.

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The interim report should be word-processed (typed) or legibly handwritten with the student's, supervisor's and moderator's names and the project title at the front and should either be stapled or submitted in a loose leaf binder. The interim assessment will be based on the quality of the project outline document, the student's ability to explain the basis and aims of the project, literature review and the quality and viability of the time planning.

5.3.2 Final Thesis

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please also see information on Plagiarism (Section 5.5) The Final Thesis is the main method of assessment for the project. It should include summary, contents, introduction, and main chapters describing the project work, discussion, conclusions, references and appendices. The thesis should be written for a reader who is technically competent, but who is not necessarily expert in the field of study. Your supervisor will not have time to make major corrections to the style and structure of the thesis before final submission, so you should discuss the structure of the thesis with your supervisor before starting to write it. The thesis must be no more than 80 pages, on un-punched A4 paper. The text should be double-spaced and on one side of the paper only. The most suitable font is Times Roman 12pt. A margin of one inch must be left on the left-hand side of each page of typing for binding. A similar margin should be used on the righthand side. Graphs, photographs and illustrations may either be inserted into the text at the nearest appropriate point (as they are in a text book for example) or may appear on separate sheets in between the text pages. Diagrams should be properly labelled for each chapter e.g. Figure 3.1 is the first diagram in chapter 3), and neatly drawn (hand drawing is acceptable although computer drawn diagrams and figures generally look better). Graphs and oscillograms must have labelled axes with given scales. References should be referred to in the text at appropriate points using numbers in square brackets. Students who fail to meet these layout guidelines will have marks deducted. A reference list with the appropriate numbers should be given at the end of the thesis. The examples below (the first for a book, the second for a paper essentially following IEEE guidelines) give typical styles for references that you should employ: [1] N. Mohan, T, Underland and W. Robbins, Power Electronics: Converters Application and Design. New York, Wiley, 1996. [2] Alesina A. and Venturini M.G.B., "Analysis and Design of Optimum-Amplitude Nine-Switch Direct AC-AC Converters", IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics Vol. 4 .No.1. , January 1989, pp101-112. References for websites are more difficult due to their transient nature. Often, material obtained from websites (copies of academic papers, extracts from books etc) can also be obtained in printed form. In such cases a reference to the archival (i.e. permanent) source must be given. In other cases, where the material is only available on the web, the reference should follow the IEEE recommended practice, which can be found at the following web address: http://www.ieee.org/ Make sure that you differentiate between a reference list (papers/books etc from which you have obtained specific information/facts that you wish to refer to) and a

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bibliography (a general reading list not referred to specifically in the text). Most theses should have a reference list; the bibliography is optional. Appendices should be used for information, mathematical derivations etc which are required for completeness, but which would disrupt the main flow of the thesis if placed in the main text. Appendices should be denoted with a letter (Appendix A, Appendix B etc) and should be referred to in the main text. Any appendix that is not referred to is clearly unnecessary. You must not use any text or figures from other sources in your thesis without giving a proper reference. Failure to give proper reference to such material constitutes plagiarism and will be reported to the University Academic Offences Committee (see section 4.5). This applies particularly (but not solely) to material obtained from the WWW or that scanned electronically from other sources. The length of the complete thesis, including diagrams and appendices, should not exceed 80 pages. Every sheet except for the title page must be numbered consecutively in the top right hand corner. Students who exceed 80 pages may lose marks for presentation due to unnecessary length. Similarly, inappropriate padding of the thesis will not receive credit and will detract from the parts that do deserve credit. Software listings should not be included in the thesis either in the main body, or as an appendix. Software design, algorithms etc can be illustrated and explained in the thesis using pseudo-code or flow-diagrams or some other appropriate high-level description. Data sheets should not be included in the thesis for standard parts (logic ICs, opamps, comparators etc). Data sheets should only be included if reference to the data sheet is necessary for the reader to understand some aspect of the thesis. This will normally only be when you have used an unusual or difficult to source part, and/or where using the part is a major aspect of your work. In such cases, the data sheet should be placed in an appendix and must be referred to in the appropriate part of the text. Tables of experimental results should only be included if this information is not being presented graphically, and should be placed in an Appendix. Diagrams too large or numerous for A4 paper, should be prepared on folded A3 paper, ensuring that the fold is at least 0.5 inches inside the right-hand edge of the thesis to enable binding. Although we do not have any particular requirements on thesis binding, students are encouraged to use thermal tape binding, which is available in Student Union print shop in Portland building at your own cost. The first sheet of the thesis should adhere to the template that will be provided in the appendix of this handbook, and must include your full name, student number and the name of your supervisor. Students must make their own arrangements for producing the thesis. If you are doing your own word-processing you must make adequate back-up copies. Computer breakdowns, or loss of files in computer word processing systems, for any reason, cannot be used as an excuse for late submission of theses. Late submission, without a properly documented good cause, will incur the normal penalty of 5% per working day.

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The final thesis assessment includes the supervisor's and moderator's assessments of the project as a whole. The criteria for assessment are theoretical appreciation, extent of effort, extent of achievement and quality of work and the presentation of the thesis.

5.3.3 Bench Inspection

The Bench Inspection will take place after thesis submission. The assessors will visit the student in the lab or computer room as appropriate. The student will be allowed ten to fifteen minutes to give a brief overview of the project objectives, progress and achievements, possibly including a demonstration if appropriate. It is expected that students will prepare some visual aids to support their explanation, key diagrams, flow charts and bullet points. The bench inspection will take a maximum of 30 minutes. The two assessors are the moderator and the supervisor (optional).

5.3.4 Weighting of the Elements of Assessment

The weighting between assessment categories is as follows: Moderators assessment of interim report 10% Supervisor's assessment of thesis 55% Moderator's assessment of thesis 25% Moderators assessment of bench inspection 10% The assessment sheets used for the project are included in Appendix. Students are encouraged to consider the assessment criteria listed in these assessment sheets when they are preparing reports for submission. The overall pass mark for the project is 50%. IMPORTANT NOTE: All work should be submitted to the Student Support Centre in the Engineering and Science Learning Centre.

5.4

Extenuating Circumstances

If you have any problems, illness or other matters, which affect your studies during the year you should let your tutor know about this as soon as possible. There is a form for recording extenuating circumstances which can be obtained from the Student Support Centre in the Engineering and Science Learning Centre). The completed form, together with supporting documentary evidence should be returned to the Engineering Teaching Support Centre, Coates Building room B45 which is open Monday to Friday 08.30 16.30. Please visit the Quality Manual for the policy on Extenuating Extenuating Circumstances at http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/academicservices/qualitymanual/assessment/extenuatingc ircumstances.aspx.

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5.5

MSc Dissertation Marking Guidelines

Electrical and Electronic Engineering The University of Nottingham

A. Grades EXCEPTIONAL (90 100%) The work and dissertation should exhibit all the characteristics of an EXCELLENT grade. In addition, the contents of the dissertation should be publishable in a refereed journal without significant reworking or alteration. Any software / hardware prototype should be of the highest quality. The work should display complete and comprehensive originality. OUTSTANDING (80 89%) The work and dissertation should exhibit all the characteristics of an EXCELLENT grade. In addition, the dissertation should be publishable in a refereed journal in a suitably modified form. Any software / hardware prototype should be of the highest quality. The work should exhibit a large degree of independent thought and originality. Technical assistance from the supervisor would have been minimal and the student would have exhibited high levels of self-motivation. EXCELLENT (70 79%) The work and dissertation should display a complete and thorough understanding of the conceptual and practical issues surrounding the chosen topic. There should be evidence of independent thought in the form of some degree of originality in the presentation and discussions of the material. The dissertation should be well structured with a clear line of argument and the quality of the analysis should be excellent. Any software / hardware prototype should be completed in all respects, including the appropriate documentation, and exhibit very high quality. GOOD (60 69%) The work and dissertation should show a good understanding of the conceptual and practical issues surrounding the chosen topic. The arguments should be clearly structured but there is no specific requirement for any degree of original work. The quality of the analysis and the writing of the dissertation should be good. Ideally, any software / hardware prototype should be complete and usable and demonstrate good quality engineering design. Where parts of the prototype are incomplete and the project goals were ambitious, the student should be able to explain, through their own analysis, improvements that could be made. PASS (50 59%) The work and dissertation should show an adequate understanding of the key conceptual and practical issues although weakness may be present in some areas. There should be evidence of some attempt to construct an argument around the information available. The analytical content should be average. Any software / hardware prototype should be adequate to illustrate principles and may display weakness in areas not central to the work. DIPLOMA LEVEL (40 49%) The work and dissertation would display an incomplete understanding of the central issues relating to the chosen topic. The dissertation would lack a clear structure and the quality of the analysis would be below average. Any software / hardware prototype would be poorly designed, incomplete or difficult to understand. The work should show some understanding of principles, but may display some weakness in central areas. DEFINITE FAIL (BELOW 40%) The work and dissertation would display a very poor understanding of the chosen area. There would be no clear structure and the analysis may be weak and incomplete. The dissertation would be poorly written and presented. Any software / hardware prototype would be limited in capability and difficult to use.

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B. Key Attributes Quality of Dissertation

Key attribute
The objectives were The material in the dissertation was The analysis of the topic was The key concepts in the field were The literature was reviewed The research methodology

70+
Clearly and concisely formulated Totally originals Extensive, comprehensive, in-depth and scientific Thoroughly understood Extensively, highly relevant to the topic Solid, clearly defined and with appropriate justification Well mapped to the research objectives, highly relevant and flowed well Extensively, comprehensively and scientifically with valuable data obtained. Outcomes were completely discussed Clearly stated, insightful, original and scientifically deduced from the project

60-69
Clearly formulated Partially original Strong and adequate Well understood Thoroughly but lacked focus Clearly defined and appropriate Mapped to the research objectives and relevant Thoroughly but perhaps of limited scope with some data obtained. Outcomes were partially discussed Stated but either not fully backed up by the project or lacking originality

50-59
Formulated but not clearly Nothing really new but solid Adequate Understood to some extent Adequately Stated but not defined and justified Mapped to certain extent and somehow relevant Adequately but little useful data obtained. Outcomes were discussed but weak Stated but only briefly and not entirely based on the project

40-49
Vaguely discernable Largely a rehash of existing material Feeble Somewhat misunderstood Superficially Vaguely discernable Poorly mapped to the objectives Poorly with errors in method or little reliable data obtained. Outcomes were discussed but incorrect

Below 40
Not formulated at all Entirely based on existing material Non-existent Completely misunderstood Not at all Not defined, incorrect or not applicable at all Not mapped to the objectives Very poorly with major errors in method and no reliable data obtained. No outcomes at all

The design framework was

The results / outcomes in the dissertation were done

The conclusions were

Poorly stated

Not stated at all

Quality of Report
Key attribute
The layout and structure of the project were The spelling and grammar were

70+
Good with chapters and sections that flowed well together Flawless

60-69
Fairly good with sensible chapters and sections Had a few minor mistakes Cited and referenced mostly from reliable sources Good and relevant Pretty good

50-59
Good in parts but poor in others Had some mistakes Cited but either not properly referenced or using less reliable sources Satisfactory and some relevant satisfactory

40-49
Poor throughout

Below 40
Not discernable

Had several mistakes Poor referencing - mostly to websites where source cannot be confirmed Poor and majority not relevant A bit poor

Full of mistakes

The ideas taken from elsewhere were

Properly cited and referenced from reliable sources

No adequate citation or references Very poor and not relevant at all Very poor

The use of tables and figures was Overall the dissertation was

Excellent and highly relevant Worthy of publication

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5.6

Plagiarism and Use of Other Peoples' Work

Plagiarism detection software may be used by the Department if plagiarism is suspected in any project. It is compulsory for all students to submit their literature review and background information in advance of completing their thesis to allow the work to be checked for plagiarism. Work must be submitted through WebCT by August 3rd 2012. For further information on plagiarism please see: http://workspace.nottingham.ac.uk/display/eng/EEEPlagiarism+and+Use+of+Other+Peoples%27+Work When writing essays, scientific reports, laboratory reports etc., it is usual to refer to the work of other people. On the other hand, trying to pass off other peoples' work as one's own is a form of cheating, known as plagiarism, and is considered a serious offence both inside and outside the University. There is no need for confusion in this matter. If you wish to use someone else's work in what you are writing, make it quite clear to the reader what is yours and what is the other person's. Ask yourself what a reasonable reader would think. Examples of how not to plagiarise: (a) You want to quote a paragraph or two from a textbook or article. Put quotation marks round the paragraphs and use some form of words such as: The definition of rectification is given by Cotton as "..."(1). At the end of your article, in your list of references, give the reference to Cotton's book in sufficient detail for the reader to find the quoted work in the library e.g. (1) 'Principles of Electrical Technology', H. Cotton, Pitman, 1967, page 360. (b) You want to use someone else's ideas without quoting word-for-word Use a form of words in your article such as: "It was shown by Gibson (4) that..." (c) You want to use a diagram from a book or article in a report Refer to its origin in the text: "...Fig 4, taken from Smith and Jones (3), shows..." And also give the origin under the diagram as part of the caption to the figure. (d) You are working in a team which puts in a joint report

Put a section at the beginning of the report saying exactly what part of the report each member of the team was responsible for, including the writing of the report. IMPORTANT NOTE: Copying off the web is not allowed, and may cause you to fail your degree !!! If plagiarism is detected in any activity, which is examined, the occurrence will be reported to the University Academic Offences Committee, which has wide-ranging disciplinary powers, including exclusion from the University if the case is proved.

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6.

Study Patterns

An important feature of th e cou rse is th e h eavy emphasi s placed on independent working. At the outset of each piece of work (set of tutorial problems, assignment, lab session, and lab report) you should think carefully about the final objectives, compile a list of tasks to be completed and divide the time available between the various tasks. You should follow the work plan as closely as possible; however, if unforeseen problems arise you must review the plan keeping in mind the final objectives. You should discuss the effectiveness of your study plans with your tutor. Students should work five full days per week, undertake a couple of hours' work on a weekday evening and half a day at the weekend. If you are spending significantly less time than this on the course it is likely that you are not doing enough - consult your tutor.

7.

Books, References and Learning Materials

Comprehensive course notes will be provided, however, specialist books and references will be recommended as appropriate in lectures.

7.1

Past Examination Questions

Past question papers are available on the Student Portal. All students are strongly urged to practise solving past exam questions to help with learning the course material and also to help with exam preparation

22

8.

Staff and Personal Tutors

All students will have a tutor throughout the year: Up to 27/02/2012: All enquiries should be addressed to your course director. After 27/02/2012: The tutor will be the project supervisor

All students must see their course director at least once in the first four weeks of the first term who will check your module choice and other general academic matters. After the 27/02/2012 the students must see their tutor at least once every two weeks for at least one hour. Should you experience any problems that your personal tutor cannot help with then the matter should be discussed in the first instance with the MSc Course Director or the Director of Postgraduate Taught Courses if the MSc Course Director is not available. You will find that lectures will be given mainly by the academic staff. However, occasionally lectures will be given by research fellows and invited speakers from industry.

9.

Disability Liaison Officer Information

If you have a disability, dyslexia or any long-term medical condition you are urged to let us know as soon as possible. You should call in to see our Disability Liaison Officer (DLO) Emma Poole (email emma.poole@nottingham.ac.uk or telephone 0115 951 5539 and located in room B45 Coates Building) who will be pleased to discuss any issues with you. Useful information can also be found in the on-line Student Handbook mentioned above. Further information can be obtained from: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ssc/

10.

Facilities and Safety

For general information on the facilities at the University of Nottingham and in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering please refer to the Departmental web pages. Students must familiarise themselves with the safety handbook. This is available from the link Student Intranet on the Departmental web pages. The procedures and recommendations contained in the Safety handbook must be followed at all times. Students undertaking a project at Nottingham should have a risk assessment of their project completed before any practical work commences.

11.

IT Services

The University of Nottingham Information Services Website can be accessed online at the following address http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/is/uon/knowledgebase/top_guides.php and contains information for new students on IT facilities within the University. 23

12.

Appendix

Project report cover page and assessment feedback forms are attached in the following pages (for reference only).

24

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING

[TITLE]

AUTHOR SUPERVISOR DATE

[Student Name] [Supervisor Name] September 2012

Project thesis submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science [DEGREE TITLE], The University of Nottingham.

25

THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING MSc Project (H54MSP)
PROJECT DISSERTATION

INTERIM REPORT ASSESSMENT SHEET (To be completed by the Moderator) (10% OF MARK) Supervisor: Moderator:

Student Name: Student ID: Project Title: STYLE Structure of the Report Presentation TECHNICAL CONTENT Literature Review Correctness & Completeness of Proposals Adequacy and Appropriateness of Work Plan

../10 ../10

../20 ../40 ../20

TOTAL MARKS ALLOCATED (Out of 100) THE PASS MARK IS 50% COMMENTS [Please provide as much feedback as possible]

Continue overleaf if required Please return this form to Engineering Teaching Support Centre with a copy to the student. Signed (Moderator):Date:

26

THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING MSc Project (H54MSP) PROJECT DISSERTATION - FINAL THESIS ASSESSMENT SHEET (To be completed by the Supervisor) (55% OF MARK) Student Name: Supervisor: Project Title:

THESIS AND PROJECT WORK Theoretical Appreciation Extent of Effort Extent of Achievement and Quality of Work THESIS ONLY Presentation of Final Thesis TOTAL MARKS ALLOCATED (Out of 100)* THE PASS MARK IS 50%

../25 ../25 ../25 ../25

COMMENTS [Please provide as much feedback as possible]

Continue overleaf if required Please return this form to Engineering Teaching Support Centre with a copy to the student. Signed (Supervisor): Date:
*Re-marking is required if your mark is different from that of the moderator by more than 9%

27

THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING MSc Project (H54MSP) PROJECT DISSERTATION - FINAL THESIS ASSESSMENT SHEET (To be completed by the Moderator) (25% OF MARK) Student Name: Moderator: Project Title:

THESIS AND PROJECT WORK Theoretical Appreciation Extent of Effort Extent of Achievement and Quality of Work THESIS ONLY Presentation of Final Thesis TOTAL MARKS ALLOCATED (Out of 100)* THE PASS MARK IS 50%

/25 /25 /25 /25

COMMENTS [Please provide as much feedback as possible]

Continue overleaf if required Please return this form to Engineering Teaching Support Centre with a copy to the student. Signed (Moderator): Date:
* Remarking is required if your mark is different from that of the Supervisor by more than 9%.

28

THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING MSc Project (H54MSP)
PROJECT DISSERTATION

BENCH INSPECTION ASSESSMENT SHEET (To be completed by the moderator) (10% OF MARK)

Student Name: Moderator: Project Title:

Presentation Visual Aids Used Achievements Ability to Answer Questions TOTAL MARKS ALLOCATED (Out of 100)* THE PASS MARK IS 50%

../10 ../15 ../50 ../25

COMMENTS [Please provide as much feedback as possible]

Continue overleaf if required Please return this form to Engineering Teaching Support Centre with a copy to the student. Signed (Moderator): Date:

29