Research Methods for Computing and Technology Page 1 of 5

1. THE COURSEWORK OVERVIEW

This coursework is an individual assignment where the student is to produce a proposal
(according to the format appended) that specifies his or her intention for his / her final year
project.

2. LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of this coursework, you should be able to:
 Demonstrate, create and interpret knowledge in the area of Computing and
Technology based on appropriate techniques of research applied.
 Critically evaluate current research areas and / or related existing solutions to assist
in selecting the Final Year Project title.
 Demonstrate the ability to formulate and justify the purpose of appropriate research
questions in the area of Computing and Technology
 Produce a detailed research proposal for Computing and Technology which
includes:
 Specific and achievable aims / objectives
 An appropriate research plan for the project

3. TYPE
Individual Assignment

4. RESEARCH PROPOSAL FORMAT

Refer to the research proposal format appended.

5. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
a. The research proposal should be presented in English using font size 12, Times New
Roman with 1.5 line spacing and should be aligned to justify.
b. The cover page of the research proposal should have the researcher’s name, student
identification number, the degree the researcher is enrolled in and the title of the
proposed final year project.
c. The research proposal should include the table of contents, with page numbers.
d. The text of the research proposal should not exceed 2500 words.
e. The research proposal should not contain any appendices.

__________________________________________________________________________________________
Level 2 Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation 2018
Research Methods for Computing and Technology Page 2 of 5

6. SUBMISSION
a. A softcopy of the research proposal should be copied into a CD or DVD and submitted
together with the hardcopy of the research proposal.
b. Submission of deliverables should be made to the administrative counter on or
before 7.00pm, dated (July 16, 2018).
c. Note: There are 2 presentations in this module:
 Forum 1 would commence on May 28, 2018 (see Marking Criteria)
 Proposal Presentation would commence on July 23, 2018.

7. MARKING CRITERIA
The research proposal will be evaluated in 3 main sections:

Problem Definition (Forum 1) 15%

Criteria Marks Allocated
Title, Aims and Objectives 5%
Problem Statement & Preliminary Research 5%
Presentation 5%

Research Proposal Report 70%

Criteria Marks Allocated
Final Problem Background Research and Discussion 10%
Literature Review 20%
Research Questions 5%
Research Design 10%
Personal Reflection 10%
Documentation Standards 5%
Referencing 10%

Presentation of Proposal 15%

Criteria Marks Allocated
Explanation & Justification of proposal 5%
Q&A 5%
Presentation 5%

__________________________________________________________________________________________
Level 2 Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation 2018
Research Methods for Computing and Technology Page 3 of 5

RESEARCH PROPOSAL FORMAT

A proposal would normally addresses the following questions:

 What is to be accomplished in the system's project?
 What is the reason for the system's project?
 How is the system going to be developed?
 What tools and/or information would be needed?

1. Title

The title should be descriptive yet concise. Avoid phrases such as “An investigation of
...” or “The development of .....”. Consider an appealing and creative, yet informative
title.

2. Introduction

The researcher should introduce the title to someone who is not from the Computing,
Technology, Multimedia or Games domain area and has little or no knowledge of the
title or the domain. Therefore, the researcher is advised to avoid using jargon or
technical terms in the Introduction. The researcher is discouraged from including
citations and diagrams within the Introduction section. It is recommended to explain
the title in lay terms and where possible, use an analogy.

3. Problem Statement

The research starts by defining the problem statement(s) which will provide the
justification for the proposed title. An effective problem statement should provide the
needed justification for a project. It should identify something which requires attention
or an existing method that is no longer effective.

4. Problem Background
The researcher should provide some discussion and evidence for the problems
mentioned in the Problem Background subsection. This could be achieved by citing
similar issues by other researchers in published academic literature (e.g. journals,
books). The literature citations would then enable further discussion of similar issues.
Justification of the problem would provide the rationale for the project to be done, be it
the development of a new system / game, the implementation of some new features
within an existing system / game and / or some improvements to the current system /
game using a new technology. The researcher is reminded to ensure that the problem
should not be one that is personal (e.g. from own experience) or specific to a
particular organization. The researcher is also reminded to provide at least FIVE (5)
references in forming the discussion.

__________________________________________________________________________________________
Level 2 Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation 2018
Research Methods for Computing and Technology Page 4 of 5

5. Literature Review

A literature review is an evaluative account of what has been published about a topic by
scholars and researchers. The purpose of the literature review is to enable the researcher
to investigate and critically discuss the topic area (domain). This assists in providing the
foundations for the study and determining what is known or unknown around the
domain. The researcher is reminded that whilst the literature review should include
citations where necessary, the researcher should also provide his / her own thoughts in
the discussion of these citations. Bear in mind that the literature review is your
interpretation and evaluation of current knowledge, therefore you should avoid simply
'reporting' what the literature says. You are to use at least TEN (10) references within
your literature review, of which at least 70 percent should originate from peer reviewed
academic journals, conference papers and books. The remaining sources may be
obtained from credible websites except blogs and forums which contain mainly personal
opinions.

6. Project Aims & Objectives

The research aims state the intentions or purposes of the researcher’s project in general
terms. It should describe the overall ideas presented in the research proposal. Once the
researcher has established the aims, the researcher is expected to formulate the research
objectives. For a computing and technology project, the objectives can typically be
divided into techniques or technology needed to achieve the aims through the
functionalities of the proposed system. The objectives should be achievable and the
researcher should take into consideration the timelines for the final year. The research
aims should typically be related to the development of the system and could be
described in terms of the core, enhanced and special features of the proposed system.
The researcher is reminded not to use the terms core, enhanced and / or special but may
state the aims in this order.

7. Research Questions

The research questions would be derived from the proposed project's aim(s). Therefore,
this section of the proposal should explicitly consist of a set of questions that identify
what information the researcher needs to know in order address the aims. As the
questions will enable the researcher to focus on gathering the required information later
on in the actual project, the answers to these questions are not of concern at the proposal
stage. The researcher is encouraged to categorize the research questions into domain
and technical questions.

__________________________________________________________________________________________
Level 2 Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation 2018
Research Methods for Computing and Technology Page 5 of 5

8. Research Design

a. The researcher should describe in detail the steps to be taken in attempting to

investigate and answer the research questions. It would normally contain details
such as what specific type of research the researcher will be undertaking in the final
year. The following guidelines will assist you in writing this section:

 What data collection method will be used to obtain the needed

information?
 Why has this data collection method been chosen compared to other
methods or tools?
 How does the collected data provide the needed information in relation to
your research question(s)?
 What method would you use to analyze the collected data?
 How will you research the required technical information for your
proposed title?

The researcher’s design should then develop a proposed work plan using a Gantt
Chart and timeline that would cover the first semester of Level 3.

9. Reflection

The researcher is encouraged to reflect on potential limitations and alternative

approaches to achieve the study's aims. The potential limitations could be issues (e.g.
technical or algorithm used) that might arise in the attempt to develop one or more
features of the system and how the researcher could achieve the aims using different
approaches. In order to achieve this, the researcher will need to reflect on the objectives
and conduct some research in order to recommend the alternative solution(s).

10. References

This is a list of all works cited in the proposal and should be written according to the
recognized format and must be consistent throughout the chapter. The researcher
should adhere to Harvard Referencing Style when referencing materials used in the
proposal.

__________________________________________________________________________________________
Level 2 Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation 2018