AU kursuskatalog arkiv

Bachelor's Thesis and Scientific Communication ( forår 2011 - 20 ECTS )

Rammer for udbud

• Uddannelsessprog: dansk
• Niveau:   COURSE LEVEL: 6 th semester in the BSc Economics and Management program  
• Semester/kvarter:   SEMESTER FOR WHICH THE COURSE DESCRIPTION APPLIES: Every spring semester until further notice  
• Timer per uge:   NUMBER OF HOURS PER WEEK: 3 hours of lectures and 2 hours of exercise classes per week in February - for the rest of the semester it will depend on the  number of participants.  
• Deltagerbegrænsning:
• Undervisningssted: Århus
• Hovedområde: Det Samfundsvidenskabelige Fakultet
• Udbud ID: 26480

Formål

  LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

At the end of this course, the student should be able to:

• Identify, formulate and define (in writing) an economics or management issue (the students must be able to make their own presentation of the problem definition, method and empirical research)

• Identify and describe relevant economics literature for the analysis based on the definition of the approved problem

• Identify and reflect upon relevant methods for the analysis

• Analyze the chosen problem

• Evaluate the findings and discuss possible implications.

• Formulate orally and in writing a presentation of the problem area, analysis and findings in scientific, clear and correct language

• Apply basic theories and methods of scientific communication to specific communication situations within their own academic field of study

• Analyse academic assignments and genres
  
  
• Formulate and evaluate arguments
  
  
• Apply a critical approach to potential sources and their use
  
  
• Evaluate own and others' written work as scientific discourse
  
  
• Reflect on their own writing process and implement relevant writing techniques
  
  
• Apply their ability to give an oral presentation of an academic subject

The ultimate goal of this course is to give students the ability to analyze economic problem areas and to present their findings in writing.

Indhold

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

The course consists of two parts:

Part 1 consists of a series of lectures in Scientific Communication during the month of February (amounting to 5 ECTS) together with the introductory lectures within the other subject areas of the course. The form of assessment of Scientific Communication course will be a mandatory paper, which must be handed in during the week after the last lecture of the lecture series

Part 2 consists of a number of advisory meetings with the various thesis supervisors, the actual writing and handing in of the thesis, presentation and defence of the student's own thesis and criticism of another. A joint grade (weight: 20 ECTS) is given for the two parts of the course.

The students will learn to analyze various economics topics and write a report on this. Reports may be written individually or in groups of maximum 3. Students choose their topic, the problem for analysis, find the relevant literature and data and carry out the project themselves. All students will participate in initial lectures on selected topics and report writing, in meetings about the project work, and in seminar presentations by all groups, and all students read all project reports and participate in the discussion.

The aim of the Scientific Communication course is to give the participants an understanding of scientific communication as a genre and to enable them to successfully participate in written and oral scientific discourse within their educational institution. The course will enable the students to uncover and analyze the conditions of the communicative situation in an academic context, and to understand the relation between content and form.

An essential skill in scientific writing is the ability to find or construct relevant problems within the field of study. This problem will often be the starting point of written work such as a report, and thus function as a guideline for both the writer and the reader. A part of the course will focus on the difference between topics and problems, and introduce useful tools for the process of searching for a relevant problem.

The participants will learn how to construct valid arguments and how to critically evaluate their own arguments as well as others'. They will also learn to reflect on critical selection and evaluation, and learn how to use and refer to sources in a scientific context.

Writing scientific texts can be viewed as a process as well as a final product and the participants will be introduced to a theoretical understanding of the academic writing process.

Also, several writing techniques will be provided in order to optimize the writing process and learn how to give concise feedback.

Finally, the course will give an introduction to how the participants can give a well structured oral presentation of an academic subject.

The theoretical framework for the course consists of rhetoric, discourse analysis and writing and argumentation theory. The tutorials will focus on practical exercises.

COURSE SUBJECT AREAS:

See the catalogue of thesis subject areas

Faglige forudsætninger

Underviser

LECTURER: Part 1: Gry Sandholm Jensen, part 2: the thesis supervisors

Undervisnings- og arbejdsform

TEACHING METHOD:

After individual studies of the course literature, each participant or group of participants prepares a written bachelor's thesis (a project). Please note: It must be possible to individualize the contributions in group projects.

At the presentation, all group members must demonstrate that they have contributed to the thesis and actively take part in the discussion. Students must participate in the introductory lectures and later on in the presentation of all the theses. Please note the general guidelines for bachelor's theses.

TEACHING LANGUAGE: Danish

Litteratur

LITERATURE:

Scientific Communication:

Andersen, Ib (2005). Den skinbarlige virkelighed , 3. udgave. Samfundslitteratur. 281 pages.

Bhatia, Vijay K. (1993). Analysing Genre. Language use in professional settings. Longman. Kap. 4, 24 pages.

Bukh, Per Nikolaj (2001). Opgaveskrivning . Jurist- og Økonomforbundets Forlag. 67 pages.

Hegelund, Signe (2000). Akademisk argumentation. Skriv overbevisende opgaver på de videregående uddannelser . Samfundslitteratur. 50 pages.

Jørgensen, Per Stray (2000). Klart sprog i opgaver på videregående uddannelser . Samfundslitteratur. 51 pages.

Jørgensen, Peter Stray (2001). Talegaver - mundtlig fremstilling for studerende. 2. udg., Samfundslitteratur. 39 pages.

Rienecker, Lotte (2001). Problemformulering på de samfundsvidenskabelige uddannelser . Samfundslitteratur. 39 pages.

Rienecker, Lotte (1996). Tekster til tiden. Undgå skriveblokeringer . Dansk Psykologisk Forlag. Kap. 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12. In total 88 pages.

In total 639 pages.

Bachelor's Thesis:

See the catalogue of thesis subject areas

Bedømmelse

FORM OF ASSESSMENT: The students are assessed on the basis of the bachelor's thesis itself and on their presentation of it for their fellow students and their defence of the criticism offered by them. To be accepted for assessment, each student must have participated in the presentation and defence of at least 80 pct. of the theses and must have offered criticism and have passed the Scientific Communications part of the course.