Critical Thinking and Research Skills Assignment on Reusable Rocket Technology

This assignment will examine students’ critical thinking skills and the barriers that can hinder the effective development of critical approaches. By carrying out this assignment, students will understand how to use a qualitative research methods to examine contemporary real-life situations and provide the basis for the application of ideas. Besides, the students will learn how to harness their various skills of critical analysis, investigation, monitoring, estimation and conducting comparisons. In addition, the assessment aims to develop the use of a range of academic skills required to be successful in HE. As a learner, it is expected that you take responsibility of your own learning and that you complete your project within given time frame.

Completion of this assignment will address the following learning outcomes:

1 Demonstrate competence in the application of research skills necessary for engineering practice.

2 To employ digital literacy in a given engineering project.

3 To display an understanding of academic and professional writing principles and their applications.

Task:

You are required to produce a project report (2000 words) based on your group project that includes background information, findings and discussion of the outcomes. You are also required to evidence your research and collaborative work in an online portfolio.

In groups, record how you planned the work including research, in an action plan. Use a planning tool such as Gantt Chart to allocate tasks among team members and to manage your project.

Evidence your daily class tasks, research and collaborative work in an online portfolio that must be accessible to your tutors (you may use OneNote- class NoteBook).

Each team member then needs to write an individual assignment (total 2000 words), to be submitted through Turnitin. The assignment will be in two parts:

Part 1: A report on your group work (1800 words). The report should be written for a general audience with an interest in the topic, and should be written using the scientific (third person) writing style (please refer to Academic Practice section).

Part 2: A self-reflection in which you explain how you achieved the learning outcomes of the coursework and your thoughts about working in a group (200 words).

The report must include in an Appendix your action plan, Gantt chart and a link to your portfolio.

Topic (and report title): Reusable rocket technology

You will need to gather information about reusable space rockets. You may use SpaceX rockets for example Falcon heavy or Falcon 9 and carry out the following research tasks:

Task

·Research existing rocket technologies and recent trends.

·Survey the current companies investing in reusable rocket development.

·Provide reusable rocket design and vehicle configuration.

·Review dragon launch capsule and 2020 NASA-SpaceX launch operation.

·Propose how these technologies can be further developed.

After you have gathered all the information, work together as a team to discuss the different types of information you found and potential applications of this emerging technology. You should then come up with a proposal on how these or related technologies may be further advanced.

Further Details & Guidance

Written assignment structure:

1.Cover page (CU template will be provided).

2.Table of contents.

The 1800 word report should contain the following sections:

3.Title and summary/ abstract: This should be a very brief overview of your project. No more than 10% of the word count.

4.Introduction: Background information/ literature review and introduction to your project. Aims and objectives. No more than 10% of the word count.

5.Task and proposed methodology: This should include a plan of your approach to the allocated task and an explanation of how you went about it, as well as the research you carried out. About 30% of the word count.

6.Outcome and discussions: This should include your proposed actions, comparison and analyses. Discussions of your results providing evidence of depth of knowledge and critical analysis. About 30% of the word count.

7.Conclusion and recommendations: This should state your main results and suggestions on improvements. No more than 10% of the word count.

8.List of references: About ten references from credible sources, in APA format.

Do not forget to reference all your sources using APA, and to include numbered and captioned images in your report. Remember that part of your mark will be for presentation (style, text organisation, referencing, captioning images, correct use of images, tables and appendices etc.).

Section 1: Explain how you achieved the learning outcomes that apply to this assignment (the learning outcomes are given above). Give examples of your work that demonstrate your achievement of the learning outcomes. (about 100-120 words)

Section 2: Give your thoughts on group work. What did you learn and what would you do differently next time? (about 80-100 words)

The appendix must include the following:

•Action plan.

•Gantt chart.  

•A link to your e-portfolio.

Failure to include the items above will result in loss of marks.

You may also include any other information that would be too detailed or excessive for the report, but please remember that you will need to direct your reader to the Appendix in the report. Remember that you only get marked for what is in the main body of the report, so keep the important information for the main report.

You will be marked on the quality of your work and the presentation of your report.

Guidance on building your e-portfolio  

 It is highly recommended that you collect and collate evidence (artefacts) from the very first day of the course.  Therefore you need to plan early with regards to the method you will use. The portfolio (place of collating evidence) has to be online or accessible in an electronic format. Over the run of the module, your lecturer will regularly view your collection of evidence to date to monitor progress. Consider inviting peers to view your portfolio of evidence to encourage networking and collaboration. The portfolio should include the following:

•A brief description of yourself.

•Evidence of collaboration. (WhatsApp, Facebook group, etc.).

•Evidence of peer observations reviews and comments.

•Evidence of depth of knowledge (additional references).