ERMGC Coursework for Academic year 2023-2024

Engineering Research Methods with Grand Challenge (ERMGC)

For the assessment of this course you are required to conduct a critical literature review in a topic related
to your programme of study from the list of themes provided in the Coursework Assignment folder. Your
review should identify and discuss a ’grand challenge’, a research question that you have identified in the
theme that you have chosen.

The assignment will consist of:

• 5-pages literature review paper formatted according to the Journal template that has been
adapted for use in this course and is available in the Coursework Assignment folder in the ‘Course Ma-
terials’ area in Learn. You are encouraged to read carefully and follow the instructions in the template
as closely as possible (except that graphics only need to of a sufficient resolution to be read clearly by
the marker in your document and separate files will not be submitted). The literature review paper
must be limited to 5 pages in length, with the exception of the References section which can continue
after the 5th page.

• 1-page reflective statement that will reflect in the following questions. (As a suggestion, it is recom-
mended that you consider providing a response to each individual question by allocating approximately
half a page to address each question comprehensively):

Q1 - Please select the two publications that have been most helpful in backing up your literature
review’s reasoning. Afterwards, share your thoughts on why they are important and how they
have influenced the way you have approached your research.
Q2 - If you were to use any generative AI tool to write your Literature Review, what questions would
you ask it and why?

You might submit a 6-pages (plus 1-page for references) combined document (literature
review + reflective statement) in .pdf format. Your submission should not include an addi-
tional title page.

A Word and LATEX template are provided for the 5-page literature review paper. You are welcome to
select any of them for your coursework. The final submission of the document should be in a single pdf file.
(i.e. please do not submit the LATEX files if you decide to use it). The assignment carries 100% of the
final mark of this course.

You are advised to use the following structure for your literature paper.

• Abstract
Your abstract should be between 150-250 words and follow the guidance given in the template.

• Introductory sections
This includes the introduction, background section and problem statement (if it exists). The intro-
ductory sections set the scene. They do this by providing some basic background information and
introducing the ‘grand challenge’ question that your paper will be addressing. You should focus on
explaining why this question is important. A final paragraph in the introduction setting out the
structure of the paper is also helpful.

• Methodology
The methodology should explain your thinking and the process you followed to complete the literature
review. This could be supported by an illustration. You can also introduce important/interesting
methodologies relevant to your ‘grand challenge’ question that you have found in the papers you
studied, if this is relevant for your chosen topic.
• Results and Discussion
The results section should present a synthesis of the most important information you have found while
completing your review. For example, you might identify methodologies/technologies/ processes that
are important in exploring your ‘grand challenge’ question and discuss their functionality/performance.
It is important that you include a Discussion section that presents your own interpretation/critical
review of these methodologies/ technologies/processes.

• Conclusions
The conclusions section should summarise the most important points of your paper and highlight the
main points of your review. It should also indicate the significance of the ‘grand challenge’ question,
and what would be the impact of improving/solving the challenges in your selected topic on the
society/environment/economy/market etc. (where applicable).

• References
You should include the full citation to referenced documents following the guidelines provided in the
template or using a recognised referencing system (e.g. Harvard, Vancouver. . . ). The Reference list
is not included in the page count and there is no upper or lower limit on the number of referenced
documents. In previous years, it has been common for the References section to include between 20
and 30 references from good quality sources.