MSEAA Presents

The FYP Seminar Series

What we wish someone had told us back then.

Part One:
Perspectives & Lit Review
Presented by:
Ricky Chua (Dr)
Class of 2005

Who is MSEAA

MembersMax lets you enjoy 75% OFF all MSEAA events!

S$56.00 for 3 years, Save over S$400.00!!
Google MSEAA Tackthis to find our store!

The FYP Seminar Series

Part One: Perspectives & Lit Review
August 2013

Part Two: FYP Report Writing

January 2014 (Date is tentative)

PERSPECTIVES

Quick check!
Which of the following do you think is critical for
doing well in FYP ?
Keep communicating and clarifying with professors

Diligently do all experiments that your

Prof/Mentor suggests
Generate a lot of data from experiments
Spend at least 8 hours per week doing experiments
for 24 weeks
Fulfill the objective of the FYP topic

FOUR questions posed to Profs

1. What is the educational objective of an FYP?
2. For you to award an "A" grade to a student for FYP,
what must he or she accomplish or demonstrate?
3. Why should a student put in effort and do well?
What benefits (curricular and non-curricular) can
this student gain from doing well in FYP?
4. Any advice, comments, or words of caution you
might want to tell all FYP students?

What is the educational objective

of an FYP?
have at least the experience to handle a
project independently both from hands on
as well as thinking as aspects.
I believe that one of the important
purposes of FYPs is to equip students with
essential skills of problem analysis and
problem solving.
The students not only have to do but
more importantly have to think during the
project.

What is the educational objective

of an FYP?
To put theory into practice in order to
learn a variety of skills from problem
solving to material characterisation and
even statistics.
Basically the FYP project enables a
practical application of theory and the
opportunity to learn additional techniques
and soft skills.

What is the educational objective

of an FYP?
To let students know that knowledge is not
static, encoded in textbooks and lecture notes,
but live and dynamic, constantly being created
and destroyed this is the viewpoint they were
never exposed to. Not every question has a
neatly packaged answer.
Promote independent learning. Helps build
confidence and maturity of the student.

For you to award an "A" grade to a

student for FYP
Academic maturity. Able to ask good
questions and find solutions to those
questions.
Show the ability to understand a topic to a
certain depth.
Independent mastery and leadership in an
original approach which is ultimately
successful.

For you to award an "A" grade to a

student for FYP
A good learning attitude, consistency in terms of
performance.
ability to not only report on results, but be able to
discuss why, how and what are the implications of the
results.
be able to turn a failure into a learning
opportunity. There is no right or wrong when it comes to
an FYP project there is no model answer to replicate
or follow. This often is challenging for some students
who are used to memorizing their way to A grades in
exams.

For you to award an "A" grade to a

student for FYP
Above all, you could set yourself apart when
you go for the extra mile.
My way of grading- 85/15 , 85% process, 15%
results. Process includes- trouble shooting,
resourcefulness, attitude and analytical/critical
thinking.
Perfect results but wrong attitude would get a
B at the most, if not B-.

The FYP distilled into 5 objectives

Knowledge is live and dynamic.
Not every question has a neatly packaged answer.

Hands-on experience.
Put theory into practical application.

Good learning attitude.

Consistency. Maturity..

Problem analysis and problem solving.

You have to "think" during the project.

Handle a project on your own.

Promote self-learning

Why should a student put in effort

and do well?
It prepares them for the working world where
they would be leading a group of technicians and asst
engineers on projects. No more spoon feeding, why
not take this opportunity to train yourself?
Your future bosses are likely to assess your
performance and look out for your good qualities,
such as diligence, perseverance, thoroughness,
enthusiasm to learn, willingness to take initiative,
creativity and innovation. I believe a professor usually
also looks out for such qualities for their FYP
students.

Why should a student put in effort

and do well?
The effort put in by a student for the FYP is a
reflection of the students motivation, determination,
sense of responsibility and the ability to execute a
project.
A well-executed FYP teaches students how to
manage time, to execute plans, to bounce back from
failure, to commit to excellence, and most
importantly, how to create value.

relevant for the next step, which is a job in the

real world, where accountability, responsibility and
results are indeed expected by employers.

Why should a student put in effort

and do well?
Its about taking pride in ones work. Its the attitude
towards the work that is important. Students usually
portray and translate the same attitude when employed at
work.
If were the student, I would take the FYP as an exercising
task prior to your entering full time employment.
The student should remember that FYP supervisors are
very often the person you seek a reference from for jobs
Hence, leaving behind a good impression helps!

Therefore, the FYP is not just a

module

Its a one-year-long
INTERVIEW.

Any advice, comments, or words of

caution?
Know how your supervisor grades you so that
you dont bark up the wrong tree!!
take it as a good learning experience. It
trains logical thinking that is useful anywhere,
not just technical line.
be fair to the student mentor and the sup
that gave the project to you because you
showed how keen and sincere you are.

Any advice, comments, or words of

caution?
communicate effectively with your supervisor
and mentor to define a feasible project.
... be prepared to fine-tune the project scope and
direction because things are expected to change
during an investigative type of project.
Choose a project that you have a passion, drive
and/or curiosity for. At the end of the day, those
are the things that will keep you going!

Any advice, comments, or words of

caution?
There will come a point in time during your
FYP where the more you know, the more it feels
that you dont know. And the more you do, the
more it feels that you havent done anything
relevant/significant!!!
Learn to have fun while working hard.
Take pride in your FYP. It reflects your learning
attitude in life.

Perspectives: Summary
FYP is for you to

Learn Independence
Hone Flexibility
Practice Execution
Build Character
Sharpen Analysis

Do well for FYP because

Your future career depend on it!

To score for FYP

Think and analyze deeply
Have a strong working attitude
Results dont matter so much!

LITERATURE REVIEW

Why do a Lit Review?

Why is your topic important? What need does it
fulfill? What question does it answer?

Background of the topic the science behind it

What are other people doing in a similar field
that might provide evidence to support your
project?

What other projects in completely different fields

might provide ideas to solve your problems?

Planning
Chunk upwards to find the parent topic
Eg: Your project = Surface plasmon
resonance of nanoparticles for photocatalytic
water splitting
Parent Topic = ?
1. Surface plasmon resonance
2. Photocatalytic water splitting

These can usually be found as Review Papers.

Planning
From the review paper, list down as many
subtopics that stem from the broad topics
as you can (your project is one of these
subtopics).
Find the cited papers and read through their
abstracts.

Are there other parent topics that you

might find useful?
Eg. Inspiration for solutions
Related to your project in some oblique way

Parent Topic

Different Parent Topic

Similar
subtopic
with no
overlap

Similar
subtopic
with
overlap

Similar
subtopic
with no
overlap

Your
Project

Similar
subtopic
with no
overlap

Different
subtopic
with
similarities

Dye-Sensitised Solar Cell

TiO2 for
PWS
without
SPR

High-yield
Co-catalyst
PWC

Photocatalytic
Water Splitting

Charge
injection
from metal
to semicon

My project!
Surface Plasmon
Resonance for
Photocatalytic
Water Splitting

Surface Plasmon
Resonance

Charge
injection
from metal
to semicon
Near field
electromagnetic
mechanism

Lay out your Lit Review structure

Parent Topic
Your project
Other similar subtopics

2nd Parent topic

Subtopics

Different Parent topic

Subtopics

Heres an Example for you

Other nitty gritty

Number of references
Between 10 to 100

Number of pages

Check with your

supervisor!

Between 5 to 10

Make sure you learn how to use EndNote or some

software to keep track
Trust me. It will save your hair.

Pictures and images?

Only when absolutely necessary
Remember to also put references on the image

Thats all folks!! Enjoy your FYP!!

THIS SEMINAR HAS BEEN

BROUGHT TO YOU BY MSEAA!