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2013/2014  BA-1YP  1st Year Project

English Title
1st Year Project

Course information
Language English
Exam ECTS 15 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Bachelor
Duration One Quarter
Course period Spring, Fourth Quarter
Time Table Please see course schedule at e-Campus
Study board
Study Board for BA in Information Management
Course coordinator
  • Mads Bødker - Department of IT Mangement (ITM)
Main academic disciplines
  • Communication
  • Organization
Last updated on 30-01-2014
Learning objectives
At the 4th quarter exam, students should be able to:
  • Formulate, delimit and analyze a specific problem
  • Describe and apply theories and methods relevant to their problem
  • Integrate subjects taught in the 1st year
  • Structure and present the material in the form of an academic report
  • Reflect on the knowledge acquired from the courses covered in the 1st year, and reflect on their own ways of conducting a scientific empirical enquiry
Examination
1st year Project:
Examination form Oral exam based on written product

In order to participate in the oral exam, the written product must be handed in before the oral exam; by the set deadline. The grade is based on an overall assessment of the written product and the individual oral performance.
Individual or group exam Individual
Size of written product Max. 30 pages
Assignment type Project
Duration
Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
30 min. per student, including examiners' discussion of grade, and informing plus explaining the grade
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) Internal examiner and external examiner
Exam period May/June
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
• The re-take takes place according to the same rules as the regular examination. However, the following supplementary examination regulations apply:
• For projects, where some of the group members receive a grade 00 or below at the oral defence, these students must submit, before the re-take, individual supplementary written material on aspects of the project specified by the examiner and external censor. For guidance in this respect, the examiner and external examiner will within eight working days of the oral examination give a written critique of the respective student performance and specify the supplementary material needed.
• For projects where all members are awarded a grade of 00 or below at the oral defence, the overall project is deemed unacceptable. Before the re-take the project must be revised and improved. For guidance in this respect, the examiner and external censor will give a brief written critique of the project within eight working days of the oral examination.
Course content and structure

The aims of the 1stYear Project are:
 
To facilitate and reinforce the learning of the subjects taught during the 1st year by encouraging students to work

  • independently and in a focused manner with selected theories.
  • To develop analytical skills needed to undertake problem-oriented project work. The problem-oriented process during project work is shaped by the systematic, professional and scientific demands of academic knowledge production.

 
The 1st Year Project is the first major independent work in the BA programme. As stated above, emphasis is therefore on learning the craft of project work: how to handle academic concepts and analysis, how to structure the work process and how to present findings in a project report. This is done through problem-oriented project work, in which the project group is the most important learning unit.
 
Course examined as part of the 1stYear Project exam:
Interdisciplinary Research Methods (2nd, 3rd, 4thquarters) – 5 ECTS:
Aim of the course
The course functions as a first introduction to the philosophy of social science and the most common methodologies used in social research. The aim of the course is to enable students to reflect on and critically assess the knowledge they acquire from their other courses and on their own ways of producing and analyzing knowledge. Furthermore, it should help to develop students’ skills in making sound, informed, and reasoned methodological and theoretical choices in their own analytical work.
 

Course content

Topics will include: Fundamental concepts and problems, what is social science, discussions of Ontology vs. Epistemology, How to produce and evaluate knowledge different research designs, qualitative and quantitative methods, modes of evaluation,  Constructing a project at university – research question, structure, Presentation of work in progress for the 1st year projects, with collegial feedback.
At the workshops parallel to the lectures the students will develop their skills to identification and evaluation of fundamental concepts, research designs, research questions and methodology in both research articles and their own analytical work.
Teaching Methods, Course Materials and Examination
The course consists of one 2-hour introductory lecture and five lectures followed by five 2-hour exercise sessions. Students are expected to do quite a lot of work 
in between sessions in addition to reading the course material. This will be work related to both the student survey, focus groups and the 1st Year Project. Students are expected to work in groups.
Teaching methods
The project process includes 3 project workshops and 6 IRM workshops, which share the aim of preparing students for the 1st Year Project and guiding them in the project process.
Last updated on 30-01-2014