Research Discussion Means More Than Technical Discussion
Day 092. Research discussion should not just be a technical discussion
Two of my final year project (FYP) students missed my earlier FYP briefing at the N12 Separation Research Lab at the Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering (FCEE) last week. Because of that, I set a new meeting with the two of them at my new CEE office.
I never had a formal approach to begin the first session with the students, but my traditional practice employs the following simple 3-phase structure.
Phase 1 — Warm-up
It is my style that I will always kick start with casual questions to get to know my students better. I will start by asking about their basic background, ambition, hobbies, parents' occupation, CGPA pointers, and a few others that depend on the feedback I received from them.
Phase 2 — Go Technical
The next step is to brief them about what kind of research or/and the research topic I am assigning them. It’s best to explain clearly to them what they will be doing. I do ask questions or feedback from the students from time to time just in case they got confused.
For today, I asked one of the students to work on a “Photocatalyst reaction project for hydrogen production” and for the other student, I assigned him to a thermodynamic study titled “Thermodynamic analyses of methanol-reforming to hydrogen” (actual research title is not shared here). It’s all technical stuff discussion.
Phase 3 — Facilitation and Motivation
Of course, a student who is not yet familiar with performing any research will feel nervous and not confident. That’s the time for me to interject and give all the guidance and motivation they need. This is where I showed what my previous FYP students were capable of and their outstanding achievements.
I showed some work of passed FYP students (thesis and journal publication). This is the part where the students felt motivated as they saw the amazing product of the research accomplished by their seniors. I also introduced them to their respective small supervisor (who is my postgraduate students) to assist them along the way.
I explained to them my expectation and my style of work. I reminded them that previous FYP students were very successful because of their discipline and they strictly follow my guidance, and that’s pretty much their recipe for massive success.
All the best to my FYP students this year (2023).
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Other official tasks performed today:
- Signed my Ph.D. student thesis submission form
- Signed my FCEE mentee documentation for BEM PAE Assessment
- Attended meeting by DVCRI and his team with FCEE faculty members.
- Continue reading the Ph.D. thesis I am assigned for.
- Check my FYP weekly progress.
- Preparation for METE Occupational Safety in Energy System class for tomorrow.
