STUDY GUIDE: COURSE WORK IN THE IMPDET-LE PHD STUDY PROGRAMME

Transcription

1 STUDY GUIDE: COURSE WORK IN THE IMPDET-LE PHD STUDY PROGRAMME Instructions for applicants and current students. Dr. Jarkko Suhonen School of Computing University of Eastern Finland January 2014

2 General This documents gives information about the course work in the IMPDET-LE doctoral study programme. The IMPDET-LE applicant apply depending on their previous academic studies and research interests either to the Faculty of Science and Forestry (major subject: Computer Science) or to the Philosophical Faculty (major subject: Education, Special Education, Adult Education). All doctoral students should register themselves into one of the UEF doctoral programmes. IMPDET-LE is not an independent doctoral programme, but it belongs to two doctoral programmes at UEF. When the major subject of the applicant is Computer Science, the student will apply to the ECSE doctoral programme under Faculty of Science and Forestry. When the major subject of the applicant is Education, Special Education or Adult Education, the student will apply to the Doctoral Programme of Educational Sciences in Interdisciplinary Context under Faculty of Philosophy. In both cases, the student needs to include a course work plan in the PhD student application documents. Also the supervisors need to accept the course work plan before the application is submitted to the Faculty office. The purpose of this document is to introduce the available studies that can be included in the course work plan of IMPDET- LE applicants. Study requirements in ECSE doctoral programme, Faculty of Science and Forestry In the ECSE doctoral programme, the student is required to complete 30 ECTS credits of course work during the PhD study period. The course work in Computer Science may consist of studies in the major subject exclusively, or of studies in the major and minor subject(s). Studies in the major subject have to be in the advanced or equivalent level, and the minor subject(s) are required to form an acceptable entity that supports the studies in the major subject, and eventually, the research. In ECSE, the requirements for postgraduate studies are the following: 1) General studies, 4-10 ECTS (with following recommendations) Scientific Writing (or equivalent) Scientific Presentation (or equivalent) 2) Research-specific studies, ECTS (with following recommendations) Research Seminar in a specific area A presentation in a high quality international conference Specialized courses supporting the research work In the course work plan, the student is required to list the courses by their name, code, and extent (in ECTS credits), and the intended time of completing the courses. Although the student may already have completed some of the courses for his or her previous

3 higher university degree, these courses need to be included in the plan. Students who have completed their higher university degree according to the old degree system in Finland (Decree 221/94), may include in their postgraduate degree such studies that 1) exceed the 160 credit units required for the higher university degree, 2) are not obligatory for the higher university degree, and 3) fill the requirements set for postgraduate studies. Those students who have completed their higher university degree according to the new degree system in Finland (Decree 794/2004), may not include studies that are a part of another degree in their post graduate degree, even if they are additional studies. For international students the same rule applies, e.g. higher education studies that are not included as a part of previous higher education degree can included into the course work plan. However, in most of the cases all course work is completed during the PhD study period. Study requirements in Doctoral Programme of Educational Sciences in Interdisciplinary Context The studies leading to doctoral degrees in Doctoral Programme of Educational Science in Interdisciplinary Context comprise the doctoral dissertation, as well as transferable skills studies and studies in the discipline and field of research. The course work required of students completing a licentiate or a doctoral degree at the Philosophical Faculty comprise of total 50 ECTS course work as presented in Table 1. Research and working life skills (50 ECTS) ECTS Transferable skills studies 10 Philosophy of Science and Ethics 3 Scientific Writing for Postgraduate Students 2 Academic and other working life skills 5 (presentations in scientific conferences, academic teaching positions and other expert positions), Speech Communication for Postgraduate Students, Media Communication for Postgraduate Students, Introduction to Immaterial Property Rights, etc. Studies in the discipline and field of research 40 Research methods and other methodological 5 studies offered by the faculties Research seminar of the student s discipline 10 or research group Other discipline-specific postgraduate 25 studies and/or major or minor subject studies supporting the doctoral research work, including the IMPDET-LE courses

4 Table 1: Course work requirements at Doctoral Programme of Educational Science in Interdisciplinary Context Please note: If a person is applying to the Doctoral Programme of Educational Science in Interdisciplinary Context with a higher university degree majoring in some other subject than adult education, special education, educational science, home economics, or craft science, and the person s additional studies have not given him or her general eligibility for postgraduate education, the faculty may, at the proposal of the doctoral programme, require the person to complete ECTS of complementary studies. Furthermore, if the applicant changes his or her major subject, the faculty may, at the proposal of the Doctoral Programme of Educational Sciences in Interdisciplinary Context, require him or her to complete ECTS of complementary studies. Persons who have completed a higher polytechnic degree are required, as proposed by the doctoral programme, to complement their studies to correspond to one of the above-mentioned higher university degrees. Any possible complementary studies required of the student are defined at the time of granting him or her the right to pursue postgraduate studies. These complementary studies cannot be included in the postgraduate degree. IMPDET-LE courses Core studies The core studies are highly recommended for all IMPDET-LE students. Please note that there are different types of courses, e.g. some of the studies are based on individual work, while others are traditional courses offered either online or in campus Other Postgraduate Studies of Computer Science: Orientation to the IMPDET Studies Study mode: independent work The aim of this course is to orient the student to the IMPDET studies. The course consists of five tasks: 1) Creation of a personal research website. The web site should include the following information: personal data, contact details, information about the doctoral research topic and dissemination of the research results (e.g. applications, software designs, publications, project deliverables). The website can be created in a form of a regular website and/or it can also be implanted via a social media platform. Please see the IMPDET-LE website for examples of existing research

5 websites; The research website can also be created, for instance, into the UEF Wiki space 2) Creation of a collaboration space. The student needs to agree with the supervisor how they collaborate during the studies. Especially those who are working in distance are encouraged to use some online tool/platform for the collaboration. The collaboration can also be done via s, Skype and other synchronous means, but the collaboration space would allow tracking of agreed tasks, sharing of files and even collaborative work when writing the articles. It is recommended that also IMPDET-LE co-ordinator has access to the collaboration space. The following solutions have been used to facilitate the supervision process: - UEF Wiki platform, In UEF Wiki, the user is able to create a personal space with restricted access. This means that the user can decide who will have access to the pages added to the wiki. The Wiki offers tools for collaboration, such as blog, commenting and sharing files. - Trello; - Diigo; - Edmodo; - TeamBox; Other possible solutions to be used as a collaboration space are, for instance, Google Groups, UEF MyPlace ( Please feel free to suggest any online solution that is suitable for your and your supervisor to facilitate the supervision. 3) Updating the IMPDET-LE Wiki; Most of the supportive materials, important documents and resources have been collected in the IMPDET-LE Wiki; Your task is to update, modify or add information to the IMPDET-LE wiki, especially to the following sections: Educational Technology around the world: world Recommended readings for IMPDET-LE students: T-LE+students In addition, the IMPDET-LE Wiki could be updated, for instance, to include links to useful software application for doctoral students or to any other type of resources that you feel are relevant for the students.

6 4) Introduction to previous research; read one PhD dissertation of previous IMPDET-LE students Write a reflective report of the dissertation, e.g. a summary of the work with personal reflection on what you have learned from the dissertation. 5) Creation of a literature review plan; One of the most important components of the research work is a literature review. In this task, you need to create a literature search and review plan in collaboration with your supervisor. The plan should support the literature review task related to the PhD research work. The plan should include the main (electronic) sources for the relevant literature, core literature search terms and a description of the literature review process. The plan should also include the description of the aim of the literature review, which can be expressed via literature review questions. It is also important to think how the literature review is focused and the research space restricted. Finally, the student is expected to identify the main researchers (e.g. champions) and research groups in his/her research topic. When the actual literature review is completed, you are able to achieve additional credits. The literature review should be planned in tight collaboration with the supervisor. Research resources for the literature review plan can be found: The IMPDET-LE Wiki also includes practical tips for doing the literature search: DET-LE+doctoral+studies The course is completed by 1) Notifying the IMPDET-LE coordinator about the website, collaboration space for supervision and the updates made to the IMPDET-LE wiki 2) Sending the PhD dissertation report and the approved literature review plan (signed by the supervisor) to the IMPDET-LE coordinator The tasks 1-4 will be completed via an iterative process; the IMPDET-LE coordinator will give feedback and improvement suggestions once s/he has received the notification or the required documents. The task 5 should be processed and discussed mainly together with the supervisor. The student is not required to complete all the tasks at once, but he/she can proceed task by task Technologies for Development and Education Study mode: online course

7 What constitutes the field of Technologies for Development and Education? What are the challenges of multidisciplinarity? What are the relevant topics in the domain? Introduction to the research topics of the Technologies for Development and Educational area at the School of Computing, UEF. The following themes, among others, will be covered during the course: role of ICT in developing country context, technologies for special education, research and development in online learning and visualization environments to support learning. The themes of the course are linked to the research topics of post-graduate students and post-doc researchers of the Technologies for Development and Education research focus area of the School of Computing, UEF. The content of the course varies from one year to another The main learning objectives of the course are: to learn the contemporary and relevant research questions, problems and themes in the field of Technologies for Education and Development; to get acquainted with research topics and research and development projects of the Technologies for Development and Education research focus area of the School of Computing, UEF. The learning materials of the course consist of the recent scientific articles in the field of Technologies for Development and Education Postgraduate Research Seminar (Computer Science) Scope: 2-3 ECTS Study mode: seminar work Description: edtech research group and Institute of Inclusive Science and Solution (IISS) at UEF organize approximately once per month edtech & IISS research day seminars. The schedule of the research days can be found from the IMPDET-LE Wiki: It is highly recommended that all IMPDET-LE students participate regularly to the edtech & IISS research days. The postgraduate research seminar credits can be earned by participating and giving presentations during the research days. The research day seminars can be followed as well as presentations given online via the Adobe Connect Pro System. The ACP room used during the research days is The following formula will be used to calculate the total seminar work hours earned from the research days:

8 1 presentation equals to eight hours of seminar work 1 participation equals to three hours of seminar work if a student chairs a PhD seminar, it will be counted as one extra hour of seminar work The credits will be given according to the amount of total seminar work 1 ECTS = 26 hours of seminar work 2 ECTS = 52 hours of seminar work 3 ECTS = 78 hours of seminar work 4 ECTS = 104 hours of seminar work When a student wants to add the edtech & IISS research day credits to the Weboodi system, he/she must inform the IMPDET-LE co-ordinator who will then calculate the amount of credits earned by the student Other Postgraduate Studies of Computer Science: Literature Review Scope: 4-6 ECTS Study mode: individual work After completing the Introduction to the IMPDET studies module, PhD students usually start working with a literature review related to their research topic. The focus in the literature review should be especially to the newest research publications and identification of the key articles and important researchers in the field. It is recommended that, if applicable, the literature review results should be disseminated by writing a research article. It is highly recommended that the results of the literature review are shared with the IMPDET-LE community using the IMPDET-LE Wiki, such as list of bibliographies, and list of recent publications related to the research topic. Research resources to support the literature review can be found at The credits for the literature review can be earned by sending a literature review report to the IMPDET-LE co-ordinator. If a student has submitted an article based on the literature review, it can be used as a report for the literature review. Elective IMPDET-LE courses The courses presented in this section are the main elective courses to be included in the course work plan of the IMPDET-LE students. All courses listed in this section can be studied in distance.

9 Practicum in Online Teaching Study mode: practice Practical training of online teaching or pedagogical and technical development of a webbased course. The aim of the practicum is to learn skills and knowledge required from online teachers. The practicum can be done, for instance, by teaching in an online course of the department, by developing new pedagogical and technical solutions to support department s online courses or by critically and constructively evaluating existing learning materials and teaching practices in online courses. After the practicum, a reflective document is written, where the student describes the progress of the practicum and reflects his/her learning process State-of-the-Art Technologies in Education Study mode: online course The course deals with today's and tomorrow's challenges and opportunities of technologies in education at large (K-12, vocational training, tertiary education, continuing education, life-long learning). The course will provide an overview of the contemporary technologies in education, with emphasis on the newest research. The specific topics covered in the course are mobile and virtual learning environments, Web2.0, concretizing technologies (e.g. robotics and tangible distributed learning environments), programming visualization and games. The aim of the course is to increase participants awareness of the possibilities, roles, opportunities, challenges of technological innovations in learning and education ICT for Development Study mode: online course The aim of this course is to familiarize students with topics related to Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D). The course concentrates on the challenges and opportunities of ICTs for developing countries. Themes of the course

10 include the basics of ICT4D, current discussion regarding the role of ICT in different contextual environments, the social impacts on ICT development and use, writing up ICT4D case studies, and evaluation of ICT4D projects. After the course the students should have a general understanding of context related issues of ICT4D, be able to identify the basic needs of ICT in different environments, and be more aware if the local challenges of ICT in development Design Methods in Educational Technology Study mode: online course The aim of the course is to familiarize with various design methods in educational technology. During the course, students are introduced to topics such as agile and rapid development methods, Instructional Design as a Framework, learner-centered design, design models and methods for computer science and educational technology, the role of software and information system design models in educational technology. The core questions of the course are After the course, students are expected to identify and to be aware of different design methods and their applicability in the field of educational technology. The students are also able to understand the design principles and applicability of different design methods in educational technology. The student is capable of evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of various design methods. Relevant literature for the course: Reigeluth (1999) Instructional-Design Theories and Models: A New Paradigm of Instructional Theory, Vol. 2; Gagne (2004) Principles of Instructional Design; Duffy, Jonassen (1992) Constructivism and the Technology of Instruction: A Conversation; Mc-Pherson, Bapista Nunes (2004) Developing Innovation in Online Learning: An Action Research Framework; Reiser, Dempsey (2007) Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology; Spector, Ohrazda, van Schaak, Wiley (2005) Innovations in Instructional Technology: Essays in Honor of M. David Merrill ICT Ethics Study mode: online course Course description

11 The following topics will be covered during the course: What do we mean by ethics? Identification of ethical problems in ICT The analysis of problems based on ethical theories Critical problem solving Professional ethics in CS After completing the course, the students are familiar with basic ethical concepts, perspectives, and methodological frameworks familiar with most common ethical theories able to analyze ethical issues in ICT able to evaluate problems critically with help of logical argumentation and critical thinking skills aware of ethical aspects of research aware of professional ethics in CS; codes of conduct, and moral responsibility Other Advanced Studies of Computer Science: Project in Educational Technology Scope: 6 ECTS Study mode: project work Description: Design and implementation of a software system, application, tool or environment related to the PhD studies. The student needs to discuss about the completion requirements of the project work with the supervisor and/or IMPDET-LE coordinator Other Postgraduate Studies of Computer Science: Presentation of literature Scope: 3 ECTS Study mode: individual work Description: The requirement of the activity is to read and study one recent book related to the following topics: digital story telling, smart design (including inclusive design), educational technology or ICT for Development. After studying the book, the student is required to present the main content of the book in the edtech & IISS research day seminar. The purpose of the activity is jointly explore the recent books related to the research interests of the IMPDET-LE community. A short review of the book should also be added to the IMPDET-LE wiki.

12 Transferable skills courses for doctoral students in UEF The Doctoral School of UEF organises transferable skills courses, which are common to all doctoral students at UEF. The aim of the transferable skills courses is that the postgraduate student: familiarises him/herself with the theory and philosophy of science and research ethics and assumes a good scientific practice is able to plan a scientific research project, including problematisation, methods, resources and scheduling acquires good communication skills: general and scientific oral and writing skills and popularization of science. learns management and teamwork skills can give education and is able to work in various expert tasks The following course form the core content of the general post-graduate studies in UEF Information Skills for Postgraduate Students (2 ECTS) International Research Projects and Co-operation (3 ECTS) Scientific Thought and History of Science (1.5 ECTS) Conference English (3 ECTS) English for Postgraduate Students (4 ECTS) Scientific Writing Skills (2 ECTS) The Qualitative Thesis (6 ECTS) Please check the current general UEF doctoral education curricula from: Please note that the general post-graduate studies are usually not available online. However, the students can always discuss and negotiate with the teacher of the course about alternative options to complete the course. Other advanced level courses in Computer Science The PhD students in Computer Science are able also to include the following campus based courses into the course work plan. If you have a possibility to stay in Joensuu during your studies, please consider including these courses to your study plans o Implementation Technologies for Learning Environments, 5 ECTS o Creative Problem Management, 5 ECTS o User-Centered Design, 5 ECTS o Software Process Management, 5 ECTS o Requirements Engineering, 5 ECTS o Usability Engineering, 5 ECTS o Database Management Systems, 5 ECTS

13 o Software Metrics, 5 ECTS o Research Methods in Computer Science, 6 ECTS Note; if you have already included some of these courses into your master degree, you are not able to include them in your PhD studies. UniPID virtual studies The UniPID (Finnish University Partnership for International Development) network runs online UniPID Virtual Studies: Sustainability in Development. The courses offered via the UniPID network can be included as minor studies in the course work plan. The courses are especially recommended for those students whose research topic is related to the field of ICT for Development. The website of UniPID virtual studies includes detailed description about the content of the study programme: