230152 SE-MA Coping with trouble I: Seminar for Master Students in "Science-Technology-Society" (STS) (2017W)

To pass the seminar, students taking this course as their first Coping-Seminar are expected to:
Write an exposé for your master thesis, along the guidelines handed out and discussed in grant writing and project management; Length: 10-12 pages, to be handed in 10 days before your presentation slot
Present your exposé in class (10-15 min).

To pass the seminar, students taking this course as their second Coping-Seminar are expected to:
Write a draft chapter or a working document for your master thesis. Choose a chapter for which you think feedback will be helpful, or a document that discusses elements of your research for which you need help turning them into (a) chapter(s) (e.g. different strands of literature, methodological reflections, an overview of empirical findings you need to order). Hand in 10 days before your presentation slot.
Present the chapter/document in class and position it in the thesis as a whole (10-15 min).

To pass the seminar, all students are expected to:
In addition to the main text, students are asked to highlight one challenge they are facing in their current work, and to write a short text describing the challenge (1-2 pages). Challenges can be for example the development of instruments for empirical work (e.g. a questionnaire), the analysis of a specific piece of data, the use of a specific concept in relation to the student’s work, etc.. Provide the necessary supplementary material (e.g. a text on the concept you would like to discuss, a draft of your questionnaire, a mindmap of the literature in your state of the art….). Send this along with your main text 10 days before your presentation slot.
Comment on the exposé/chapter and presentation of a colleague (be critical but constructive). Be precise and concise (max. 5 min).
Read all exposés, draft chapters or working documents for your colleagues’ units.
Productively engage in the discussions in class.
Adhere to the general standards of good academic practice.
PLEASE NOTE! Your supervisor does NOT have access to Moodle. You are therefore responsible for sending your exposé/draft chapter to your supervisor before your presentation.
Develop a work plan for your thesis project for this term, discuss with your supervisor (if possible) and hand it in on Moodle until October 29th 2017.
As part of this work plan, (together with your supervisor) decide on an interim product/draft chapter for your thesis which should be completed by the end of the term (e.g. a discussion paper of a specific area of literature relevant for your state of the art, an analysis of the context of your case, a reflection on the methods you will use, a revision of the chapter presented in class).
The product should be an 8-12 page paper to be handed in by February 25th 2018. Tell me which product you will deliver as part of the work plan. If student and supervisor decide over the course of the semester that a different interim product would make more sense this can of course be changed.