Course syllabus for Writing for academic purposes - writing process and research practice

Course syllabus adopted 2024-02-16 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish nameAkademiskt skrivande - skrivprocess och vetenskapliga metoder
  • CodeCIU307
  • Credits7.5 Credits
  • OwnerTAFFS
  • Education cycleFirst-cycle
  • Main field of studyCivil and Environmental Engineering
  • DepartmentCOMMUNICATION AND LEARNING IN SCIENCE
  • GradingUG - Pass, Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language Swedish
  • Application code 60117
  • Maximum participants45
  • Block schedule
  • Open for exchange studentsNo
  • Only students with the course round in the programme overview.

Credit distribution

0118 Written and oral assignments 7.5 c
Grading: UG		 7.5 c

In programmes

Examiner

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Eligibility

General entry requirements for bachelor's level (first cycle)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Specific entry requirements

The same as for the programme that owns the course.
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Aim

The primary purpose of the course is to prepare the students for a simple research task/investigative work in regard to: i. Knowledge organization and critical reading, i.e. systematically search for, access, relate to and evaluate relevant information in scientific or other literature ii. Scientific approach, i.e. identify, formulate and solve problems using a conscious research approach, research design, and research methods, iii. Academic writing, i.e. develop an awareness concerning expectations on formal text with regard to language correctness, text correctness and style.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)

  • Formulate relevant and clearly delimited questions and/or hypotheses serving as the point of departure for research work.
  • Search for, identify, critically read, evaluate, organize and integrate scientific information which is directly related to a given question/hypothesis.
  • Formulate a theoretical framework/equiv. from the point of view of a given question/hypothesis.
  • Reflect on the suitability of, formulate, and justify a research strategy, research design and research method from the point of view of a given question/hypothesis.
  • Write an academic text characterized by language correctness (consistent with the rules/norms of Swedish), text correctness (with reference to coherence, logic and effectiveness) and appropriate style for use in a formal context.

Content

The course introduces the foundations of a scientific approach, knowledge organization, critical reading and formal and academic writing. The course prepares the students for the degree project (viewed as writing process and research process). The final product of the course is a planning report including (i) a description of project background/contextualization and justification of the degree project, (ii) articulation of purpose, (iii) a developed theoretical framework, (iv) a description of a research strategy, research design and research method, (v) a short discussion about potential project results and potential implications, (vi) a basic time plan for the execution of the project; in other words, the planning report will address the questions: What?, Why?, How?, and When?

Organisation

The course is implemented on the basis of and active learning philosophy and students are expected to take significant responsibility for their own studies. Traditional lecturing is restricted and the course adopts a seminar structure which assumes substantial preparations for the students - this is a necessary condition for a passing grade. Collaboration within project writing groups is encouraged when preparing for seminars and such collaboration is assumed on pedagogical grounds during classroom activities. Before each seminar, students prepare in different ways, e.g. by reading selected sections from the course book (or other relevant literature), watching video clips where relevant concepts are introduced, preparing short presentations, and by working with questions and reflective writing assignments. The course requires very active participation in all of the course's lesson activities.

Literature

  • Företagsekonomiska forskningsmetoder (Liber förlag, 3:a svenskspråkiga upplagan från 2017) by Alan Bryman and Emma Bell
  • Handouts/online material
  • Students' reference literature

Examination including compulsory elements

The course examination involves two writing assignments during the course (P/F) and a final report (P/F). Some components of the seminar plan are mandatory.

The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers on educational support due to disability.