DATA3730 Introduction to IT research Course description

Project relevant to research: The student group will carry out an IT project as part of a research project at OsloMet or another research or educational institution. Completion of the course requires work on the project corresponding to two days a week over a 12-week period. If the project is carried out during the summer, the work must correspond to four days a week over a six-week period.

In addition to the projects on offer, the individual or student group can find their own relevant research project within an existing project at OsloMet or another research or educational institution. In this case, students must receive formal approval of participation from the head of the research project and have a defined a sub-project that the student/group will work on. The sub-project must be formally approved by the course leader as relevant and as having a suitable theme and scope. If the research project is not carried out at OsloMet, the head of the research project must appoint a project supervisor. In addition, each student group will be assigned an internal supervisor at OsloMet.

This elective course will only run if a sufficient number of students a registered.

No requirements over and above the admission requirements.

After completing the course, the student is expected to have achieved the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and competence:

Knowledge

The student:

• understands the basic problems relating to carrying out a research project, including professional and research ethics, methods of cooperation, hypothesis formulation and experiments
• has a basic understanding of financing, reporting and the organisational structure of a research project
• understands the possibilities and challenges related to the generalisation of research results

Skills

The student is capable of:

• applying scientific methods, including basic qualitative and/or quantitative methodologies
• searching for, applying and referring to relevant scientific literature
• critically reflecting on the connections between research questions, research design and choice of method

General competence

The student is capable of:

• defining a research issue, research question and relevant methodology
• completing a scientific experiment through e.g. user testing, experiments, questionnaire surveys or prototype implementation
• assessing the quality of the different aspects of a scientific study

Supervision sessions with an internal and/or external supervisor. The students will work in groups of three to five students on a project, which is part of a research project at OsloMet or another institution, in cooperation with the research project’s participants and the relevant research group.

The course can be carried out individually by agreement with the course coordinator.

The projects are chosen/assigned at the start of the semester.

The following coursework is compulsory and must be approved before the student can take the exam:

• A compulsory Orientation Meeting.
• A project outline that describes how the group will organise their work on the project.
• A standard learning agreement must be entered into between the project provider/supervisor and the student(s), and this must be approved by an internal supervisor before the project can begin.
• Three minutes of meetings from the supervision meetings held during the project period.

The deadline for submitting the project outline and the minutes of the meetings will be presented in the teaching plan, which is made available at the beginning of the semester.

A portfolio exam consisting of:

1. A written project report, individual or in groups (max 5 students), 3000 words +/-10 %

2. An oral presentation, individual or in groups (max 5 students), 10 minutes + 5 minutes Q&A

The exam result cannot be appealed.

The portfolio is assessed as a whole and given a single grade, but both the project report and the oral presentation must be passed in order for the portfolio to receive a grade E or higher.

For group projects, all members of the group receive the same grade. Under exceptional circumstances, individual grades can be assigned at the discretion of the project supervisor(s) and Head of Studies.

Phase 1 of the master's thesis lays the foundation for conducting a successful master project and writing the master's thesis. In this phase, you will study the relevant literature, map out the area of your master project, find and formulate problem statement and research questions, and plan the research you will conduct in your master project.

In addition, there will be a series of workshops on the academic writing and effective communication of the thesis project. Students will develop an awareness of the conventions of academic writing and the writing process and use a range of analytical tools and methods to develop their writing and writing practices as part of writing their thesis.

Guildelines for master's theses at the Faculty of Technology, Art and Design can be found here: Retningslinjer for masteroppgaver ved Fakultet for teknologi, kunst og design - Student - minside (oslomet.no).

At least two subjects (20 ECTS) from the first semester must have been passed before the student can start work with Phase 1.

A student who has completed this course should have the following learning outcomes, defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

On successful completion of this course the student:

• has specialized knowledge of the research literature of the specific areas of their Master thesis
• understands the functions, structures, and forms of introduction chapters in theses
• understand the functions, structures, and formal requirements of literature review chapters in thesis.
• understands the function and structure of the IMRAD model and other heuristics for thinking about how academic texts are constructed
• understands the role and methods of peer learning and peer review, particularly the "summarize, evaluate, suggest" structure for commenting.

Skills

On successful completion of this course the student can:

• clearly define and limit problem areas
• connect his/her own project to relevant research literature
• clearly formulate problem statement and research questions applicable to the area of their master project
• apply different heuristics to the writing of the introduction and literature review chapters.
• give and receive effective peer feedback specific to the chapters.
• analyze and reflect on own writing through process memos and other reflective documents.

General competence

On successful completion of this course the student:

• can apply knowledge in new areas and plan limited projects
• can carry out comprehensive independent literature study
• understands and is able to articulate the idea that introduction and literature review structures and forms are based on disciplinary conventions.