YMC-61303 Scientific Skills Training

Course

Credits 3.00

Language of instruction:

English

Contents:

In this course students are trained in scientific skills. At the start students are divided into groups of four. The course consists of the following components and assignments:
- assessing the quality and characteristics of the title, abstract and keywords of a recently published domain related scientific journal paper by means of specific detailed questions;
- assessing the scientific quality and layout of this scientific paper by means of specific detailed questions;
- preparation of a scientific poster (A4) for this paper;
- designing tables and figures (based on available data) for a scientific journal;
- discussion on scientific attitude on the basis of a set of prepositions;
- information literacy (short introduction on searching for information in different sources; visit to online library).
All assignments should first be done individually and thereafter be discussed in the small groups and compared with given instructions. Students hand in their final answers and reflections by means of a group-portfolio.

Learning outcomes:

After successful completion of this course and active participation in the assignments and discussions students are expected to be able to:
- critically read, analyse and comment scientific papers concerning aspects as originality and relevance, research design, applied research methods, structure and style, clarity of presentation, etc.;
- select the key elements in a given scientific paper and communicate those by means of a scientific poster;
- critically analyse and assess various scientific posters (containing familiar and unfamiliar research), make suggestions for improvements and reflect on own work;
- design essential elements of scientific papers and reports, like a good title, an abstract, tables and figures and the conclusion;
- effectively search, find and use various relevant sources of scientific information;
- demonstrate a scientific attitude.

Activities:

- instructing lectures;
- assignments (individually and in groups).

Examination:

- individual marks based on assessment of the group-portfolio and mutual assessment by group members of individual contributions, as indicated in the Study Guide;
- active participation in all group discussions is compulsory.

Literature:

Provided on Blackboard.