UCL Institute for Environmental Design & Engineering University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT T+44 (0)20 7679 2000 www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering Coursework - Module BENV0032 - Methods of Environmental Analysis C/W: Environmental and learning conditions in lecture theatres: A case study from UCL The main aim of the coursework is to provide you with a sound grounding in the basic techniques and skills needed to complete a building analysis task in the environmental field and write a report that communicates the work carried out, the methods applied and the outcomes of your analysis work. These skills will be invaluable when you undertake your research dissertation (and hopefully in your future professional life). The main aim of peer-to-peer reviewing is to learn to critically evaluate the use of literature and methods in research projects. The option of providing feedback to others will help you think more systemically about what constitutes good research and writing, which will help you in your own work. The context of this work is that you have been commissioned to produce a research report by UCL authorities on the environmental and learning conditions in UCL lecture theatres. On the basis of the report, a range of policy decisions will be made regarding the best way of improving lecture theatre conditions, and this could be your entry into an under-developed area of environmental research. The projects have the following output: a report written in the style of a scientific paper. The report has a short (around 300-word) abstract. You need to convince the reader succinctly (as a manager has many items to read) that the report is worthy of their further attention, essentially by conveying very clearly: Chapter / section Content Abstract A summary of the points below (e.g. one sentence each) Introduction
 Why is this work important and why now? Literature review What is the current state of play? Methods How was the work done (so that someone can repeat it)? Results
 What was found out? Discussion So what does it mean? Conclusions What does this mean in the wider context? Limitations? Recommendations? References Please use the APA or Harvard referencing style. Appendix Only if needed You have 4 options for the content of your coursework. Please chose one and specify it further in your aim(s) and objectives. Option 1: What are the effects of lighting and noise on student experience and learning? Option 2: How do clothing, air movement and temperature affect thermal comfort and learning? Option 3: Do students (a) with different genders, or (b) who sit in different lecture theatre types, or (c) who sit in different areas of the lecture theatre have a different perception of (i) the lecture theatre design and learning or (ii) thermal comfort and learning? (You can chose a combination of a, b, or c with i or ii, e.g. a and ii, but you can also combine more of the elements if desired.) Option 4: How do physical characteristics of lecture theatres (seats, or lighting, or ventilation) affect elements of student experience with the lecture theatre design and learning? (Again, you can focus on one element e.g. just seats or you can combine them.) The coursework has three main work packages (WPs). Preparatory work will be needed in order to manage your time and resources, review the existing knowledge in the field and formulate the aim and objectives of your study (WP 1). The second part will concentrate on improving your analytical skills (WP 2). The last part UCL Institute for Environmental Design & Engineering University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT T+44 (0)20 7679 2000 www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk is to bring it all together into a coherent report, draw final conclusions and offer potential retrofit recommendations (WP 3). The Work Packages (WPs) of the project are summarised in the workflow diagram below. WP1 Literature review Definition of aim(s) and objectives PUTTING DATA INTO CONTEXT WP2 Analysis of survey data of your lecture theatre vs. all lecture theatres DATA ANALYSIS WP3 Combination of all work, analysis and conclusions in a final report DATA REPORTING WP 1 – Project management, research aim and literature review with causal map Before you start, you will need to spend some time planning how you will complete the project by the deadline and what is required for the report, which means identifying exactly what needs to be done, and by when. Don’t forget to back up everything. As early as possible, you should start identifying the structure, length, and contents of the final report, paragraph by paragraph. You will have to carry out background research on current knowledge and standards for lecture theatres, identify an existing knowledge gap and set out the study aims and objectives. The literature review needs to critically summarise and evaluate relevant literature. You also need to provide a causal map that gives an overview on the causal links that have been recognized in the literature. Work package 2– Analysis of survey data This part of the project will involve analysis of the overall spreadsheet in order to identify the key results on the environmental and learning conditions in the surveyed lecture theatres, and any relationships between them. For instance, you may attempt to explore which environmental factors, e.g. thermal comfort, are correlated with the reported learning conditions. You can begin a statistical analysis for all lecture theatres and compare your case study with these results. You are looking for evidence for general relationships and to identify the specific conditions of your case study. You have to conduct a test to find out whether your lecture theatre is different from the other lecture theatres. You are also required to make some kind of use of the verbal feedback in the spreadsheet. Work package 3 – Putting it all together in a final report The finished report should combine all the work and analysis into a coherent structure. The final report needs to be your own work and include a section on your case study lecture theatre and a section on all lecture theatres (of a specific kind). You find more guidelines in Appendix 4. You have to summarise the key findings for your case study and for UCL lecture theatres in general, as well as any recommended actions. Give sufficient emphasis to the discussion of implications. You also need to relate your findings and implications back to the literature. Why should we think differently based on your study? How do we need to act differently based on your study? A well-structured report that presents all the information and analysis concisely and in a consistent way, so that the evidence, environmental issues and remedies are all clearly identified, will receive higher marks. This course attempts to reflect real world research conditions, so there is a strong emphasis on self-learning and discovery of useful resources, but there will also be technical support and advice on academic writing and statistics both on the module Moodle site and through tutorials. In total, the main text must not exceed 3500 words and must not exceed 18 pages, excluding references, appendices and the executive summary/abstract. Words in tables and figures do not count towards the word limit. It is not easy keeping to these restrictions, as you must include relevant data (including a summary of the questionnaire, monitoring data) and link all aspects of the work together in the conclusions. Figures also need to be readable and appropriately labelled. Try to only include information that is relevant. A sample of the collected data may be included as an appendix, but this is not essential. Other supporting information can also go in the appendix, such as a copy of the questionnaire. UCL Institute for Environmental Design & Engineering University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT T+44 (0)20 7679 2000 www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk Documents to be handed in Please submit the following documents on the Methods of Environmental Analysis Moodle site: Draft aims and objectives submission (NOT mandatory) • If you find it helpful, please submit your draft aims and objectives that include a bit on the motivation of your work as you would write in the introductory chapter with clearly motivated aims and objectives of your study to the submission area on Moodle. • This submission will not be assessed formally, but thinking through formulating your aim and objectives clearly is a truly valuable learning experience. • We want to see correctly-named, plagiarism-free submissions that motivate and narrow down a good research question. Report • Please submit the final report with appropriate appendices to the submission area on Moodle. • You will have to submit: • a soft copy (electronic version) of your report in PDF format; and • the accompanying Excel workbook with all the data and charts you generated (this will not be marked but it may be used as part of the general supporting information when judging a report on the boundary between grades). All submissions will have to be submitted at the date and time that is indicated on the Methods of Environmental Analysis Moodle site. Make sure you name your files accordingly, otherwise this will be reflected in the mark you receive for presentation and we may not even be able to associate a submission with you. Marking criteria As a guide to the way this coursework will be marked, note that you are likely to receive a B if you include all the sections as mentioned above and describe your work well. If you make no mistakes and have developed coherent and well-defined strategies against your chosen standard, along with a thoughtful analysis of the appropriate strategies that is insightful and demonstrates a link into best practice, then you are likely to get an A. If you miss out some of the above sections, if you make many mistakes or if you go beyond the word or page limit, you will have marks deducted. Please see below for details of late and word limit penalties. A well- structured report that links the sections well will be marked higher than a less well structured one. In the assessment, marks will be awarded for the following, in the proportion shown. Marking Scheme of final coursework submission (counting 98% of the final mark) Grades mark 1 Well-motivated introduction with clear presentation of aims and objectives 5% A 70 – 100 mark 2 Good overview on the state of the literature 10% B 60 – 69 mark 3 Good use and description of methods 15% C 50 – 59 mark 4 Thorough analysis and presentation of results 20% FAIL 0 – 49 mark 5 Clarity and range of discussion, also in light of existing literature 15% mark 6 Conclusion, also including summary, recommendations and limitations 15% mark 7 Structure of report 10% mark 8 Presentation 10% Please note that there are penalties for submitting the coursework late and for exceeding the word or page limit, as set out below (See UCL Academic Manual, https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ras/acd_regs). In the case of coursework that is submitted late and is also over length, only the lateness penalty will apply. UCL Institute for Environmental Design & Engineering University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT T+44 (0)20 7679 2000 www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk PENALTIES FOR EXCEEDING THE WORD LIMIT (LIMITS ALSO APPLY TO PAGES) Mark If the word/page count: is under the word/page limit NO PENALTY exceeds the specified maximum length by less than 10% 5% reduction; penalised mark will not be reduced below the pass mark, assuming the work merited a pass exceeds the specified maximum length by 10% or more 10% reduction; penalised mark will not be reduced below the pass mark, assuming the work merited a pass PENALTIES FOR LATE SUBMISSION Mark If the submission is handed in: By the stated deadline (or agreed deadline where an extension has been granted) NO PENALTY After the deadline but less than two working days after the published date and time Reduction by 10 percentage marks; the penalised mark will not be reduced below the pass mark, assuming the work merited a pass More than two working days after the date and time deadline but no more than five working days after the deadline. The assignment will receive no more than the pass mark (50%), assuming the work merited a pass More than five working days after the date and time of the deadline. The assignment will receive a mark of 1% Please submit your report as instructed by the Course Director. Module: BENV0032 Methods of Environmental Analysis Coursework C/w 11: Environmental and learning conditions in lecture theatres: A case study from UCL Weighting: 100% of marks for coursework. Length: Coursework. max. 3500 words and max. 18 pages for the body of the report with 1.5 line spacing (The length limits refer to the introduction to conclusion chapters. The abstract, table of contents if provided, references, appendices can go beyond. Text in tables and figures do not count towards the word count but tables and figures in the main text count towards the page limit.) Coursework Issued: 5:00 pm, Wednesday 6th October 2021 Optional aims and objective draft submission deadline 10:00 am, Wednesday 17th November 2021 Report Submission Deadline: 10:00 am, 15th December 2021 Please ensure you keep a full back-up copy of all the work you submit. UCL Institute for Environmental Design & Engineering University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT T+44 (0)20 7679 2000 www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk Appendix 1 Lecture theatre allocation (overleaf) – Will be provided separately UCL Institute for Environmental Design & Engineering University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT T+44 (0)20 7679 2000 www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk Appendix 2 The seat measurements should follow the diagram below: A seat width from centre of arm rest to centre of arm rest
 B seat depth of top side of seat cushion from front to back
 C seat height from top side of cushion to floor
 D thickness of cushion
 E leg space (horizontal distance from back of your seat to back of seat in front of you) F writing space (depth of available desk)
 G arm space (horizontal distance from front of seat to front of desk space)
 H height of desk space (possibly vertical height from floor to top of writing surface) UCL Institute for Environmental Design & Engineering University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT T+44 (0)20 7679 2000 www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk Appendix 3 Questionnaire (overleaf) UCL Institute for Environmental Design & Engineering University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT T+44 (0)20 7679 2000 www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk Appendix 4 Tips for preparing your coursework • To help with writing the report, you should read the report on academic writing found under section ‘Coursework’ on Moodle ‘Julienne Hanson – Notes on how to write an academic paper’. It will also help you in your dissertation. • The methods section should be a description sufficient for the reader to repeat the work. • As there is a large amount of potential analysis, you need to ensure that every element (every paragraph, every graphic) of the report is contributing to the overall product. Do not just include all your results and analysis just because you have them. • As far as possible, treat the report as a scientific or professional paper, so include references to any relevant sources. • Before handing in, go through the report and identify the purpose of each paragraph and graph– in other words, be a tough editor on yourself. • Assume that the reader is educated but not necessary specialist in this field. It also will help if you have someone else (such as another student or a friend, who is unfamiliar with the project) read the report. Tips for checking your coursework Abstract Required structure • Motivation • Summary of current state of research • Research gap • Purpose / aim of study, objectives • Methods • Results • Implications Guiding questions • Is the abstract concise and well written? • Does it give a good overview of the research? Introduction Required structure - Motivation - Summary of current state of research - Research gap - Purpose / aim of own study, objectives - Methods Guiding questions • Is the research well motivated? I.e., has it been explained why it is particularly important or current? Does it become clear why this research should be done? • Does the introduction include a very brief statement about the state of the art of research in this area? • Does the introduction clearly state the research gap, aims and objectives or research question? • Does the introduction very briefly state how the author is going to answer the research question (i.e. with what methods)? Literature review • Has the research been put into context? • Does the literature review focus on the research that is really relevant to the research question? • Does the literature review have a logical structure, i.e. historical, or point of view - counterargument, etc.? UCL Institute for Environmental Design & Engineering University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT T+44 (0)20 7679 2000 www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk • Does the author give a critical overview of the relevant research? Does she/he state what are the strengths and weaknesses of the state of the art of the literature, what methods others used and how reliable their findings are? • Does the literature review include a suitable causal diagram that is well described in the text, e.g. describing each variable and link? Methods Below you find a number of aspects that would ideally be included. The students may group them slightly differently and if this is done sensibly, it is fine. • Has the background and method of data collection been well described? o Overall idea of the study o All lecture theatre study ▪ No of lecture theatres ▪ Study timing ▪ Generic aspects of the physical, monitoring and user survey o Individual lecture theatre study ▪ Physical survey • Theatre dimensions • Theatre capacity ▪ Monitoring survey • Time, duration and location of the study • External weather conditions during the survey • Hobo placement, variables monitored • Characteristics of the surrounding urban environment and the building • Building system characteristics • If possible, plan of the lecture theatre with hobo placement, windows, building systems • Range and accuracy of the monitoring equipment • Further elements relating to sampling, students and their behaviour, etc. ▪ User survey • A detailed justification brief description of the questionnaire content etc. • Response rate • Sample sizes and statistical representativeness • Data cleaning • Has the type of data used been well described? o Relevant questions and variables o Null and alternative hypotheses o Which variables are used to analyse which hypotheses o When and why are average values vs. the entire dataset used • Has the method of data analysis been well described? o Where will correlations be used and why o Where will t-tests be used and why o Significance level chosen Results • Does the coursework contain descriptive statistics, correlations and t-tests? • Is there a logic between elements that focus on the single case and all cases and is this logic made clear? • Is the descriptive and informational content accurate, relevant and complete? o E.g., do scatterplots contain fit lines with their equation where necessary or not contain them where not adequate? Do they contain coefficients of determinations and the p-value of correlations? • Do the analyses relate well to the research question(s)? • Have the results been well presented? o Is every figure named in the text and described in the text? UCL Institute for Environmental Design & Engineering University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT T+44 (0)20 7679 2000 www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk o Does the author guide the reader well? Discussion • Does the discussion section go beyond a mere summary of the results and describe what the results mean? • Are the results discussed in light of existing theory and studies presented in the literature chapter? Conclusions • Are wider conclusions drawn? • Are limitations described and has their effect been discussed? o Limitations to the case study o Limitations to the data o Limitations to the data analysis • Are recommendations given? Structure, form and presentation • Is the relevant literature adequately cited? (This is a very important point!) • Is the submission structured in the required order? • Are important chapters structured in sub-chapters? • Does the text guide the reader well? Is the structure made clear to the reader through transition sentences between sub-chapters, paragraphs, chapter summaries, etc.? • Is each paragraph well structured? • Are the figures and tables labelled adequately, do they have captions and are referred to in the text? • Are figures labels sufficiently large and readable? • Is the English language okay and the language concise, coherent and clear? • Are the files properly named?