NAM6200 Organisation and Leadership in Norwegian Enterprises Course description

The following required coursework must be approved before the student can take the exam:

1. a draft text of the masters thesis or draft research paper
2. a peer review of another students draft text of the masters thesis
3. a Process Memo (reflection on the feedback received from the thesis supervisor(s))

Knowledge

Upon successful completion of the course, the student should:

• have specialized knowledge on the specific areas of a master thesis
• understand scientific writing as a process of both constructing and communicating meaning.
• be able to explain the main stages of the writing process
• understand the role and methods of peer learning and peer review, particularly the "summarize, evaluate, suggest" structure for commenting
• understand the role of revision in writing

Skills

Upon successful completion of the course, the student:

• can clearly define and limit a problem area
• can connect his/her own project to relevant literature
• can plan and carry out limited research or development projects
• can identify types and scopes of results which are required to ensure the claims and conclusions are scientifically valid
• can reflect on the decisions made and their consequences for the project
• can effectively articulate scientific problems through writing
• can give and receive peer-feedback
• can effectively revise writing

General competence

Upon successful completion of the course, the student:

• can apply knowledge and skills in new areas and carry out advanced projects
• can carry out comprehensive independent study
• can contribute to the innovation of their field
• can discuss their work in an the context of interdisciplinary engineering and ethics
• can apply their research and writing knowledge and skills in other contexts
• can independently conceptualize, delineate, and execute other academic writing processes that result in effective discipline-appropriate texts.

The 30 ECTs thesis will consist of a condensed research project where focus is on identifying and investigating a problem or challenge in the specialization area and to display good scientific craftsmanship in the pursuit of an answer. Throughout the semester, a thesis is written which will be submitted at the end for assessment.

In addition to the project work, there will be a series of online, asynchronous classes during which students will be provided with a range of analytical tools and methods to help develop their writing skills. Students will also receive formative feedback on draft versions of their texts from the course instructor and their peers, with a focus on the final thesis.

The master's thesis will be assessed by an internal and an external examiner. Neither examiner shall be involved in the supervision of the master's thesis in question.

Assistant professor Sigrun Pahr Maennling

Grade Scale A-F.

Two external examiners will be used for the assessment.

Assistant professor Safiqul Islam

The academic writing workshops will cover topics such as

• Variations in academic style
• Audience, purpose and style
• The writing process
• Disciplinary identity
• Academic language
• Vocabulary, grammar, sentence, paragraph and text
• Coherence and cohesion
• Directness and formality
• Avoiding common errors: e.g. digression, lack of thesis statement, misunderstanding one’s audience
• Analysing, discussing and responding to academic texts
• Article structures, including IMRAD

Pål Klethagen.