Efficient Referencing
Owner: Dr Fang Duan
Number of students: 1
Formative Deadline: Friday W19
Learning Outcomes
Efficient referencing in report writing ensures that students accurately attribute sources, theories, and data. This improves the clarity and credibility of their arguments, making their reports more authoritative and professional. Learning to distinguish between weak and strong references encourages critical evaluation of sources. It helps you to question the validity, relevance, and reliability of the information you use.
Knowledge Requirements
For Knowledge, you should complete the “Efficient Referencing” Moodle quiz available on this unit’s Moodle page.
Application Requirements
To claim this skill at the Application level, your page must include:
- Correct use of IEEE style for in-text and reference list,
- At least one strong authoritative source (e.g., journal, standard),
- Writes a “Quality Referencing” section with justified relevance, quality, and timeliness (20–50 words each)
- Demonstrates the ability to select high-quality and diverse sources (not overly reliant on websites)
Synthesis Requirements
To claim this skill at the synthesis level, your page must include:
- A substantial written piece (e.g., project report) that integrates at least 8 IEEE style references drawn from a wide range of source types (minimum 4 categories from the list: journal articles, standards, patents, conference papers, books, reports, datasheets, websites).
- Justify your selection of references in relation to your overall project or system objective (why these sources were the most effective compared with alternatives). Show how referencing connected your work to the wider academic, technical, or professional context.
- A critical reflection (50–100 words) evaluating the effectiveness of your referencing: -What worked well. -What could be improved. -How efficient referencing strengthened the credibility and impact of your work.
Knowledge Opportunities
After the lecture W8
Application Opportunities
Project week 2 W17