Vår 2016

BIO-3529 Academic skills - 5 stp

The course is administrated by

Institutt for arktisk og marin biologi

Type of course

Multi-disciplinary course. This is a master course for students of the Department of arctic and marine biology and the Norwegian College of Fishery Science. This course is recommended during the 1st or the 2nd year of the master program. The maximum limit of participants is 30.

Course contents

The course will give the students basic academic skills in the form of scientific writing and giving scientific presentations within the natural sciences. The focus will be on the structure of a scientific text, and we will also devote time in refining your academic English skills. An introduction to a range of library resources, for example relevant databases, scientific search, and the use of reference tools (EndNote X6), will also be given. Moreover, we will discuss important issues like the critical use of sources, what is considered plagiarizing and scientific fraud, and how a good scholarly reputation is evolving. We hope the course will contribute in building a creative and constructive social network of master students at the faculty.

Objective of the course

Knowledge:

communicate research both in written and oral formats
know the structure of a scientific writing and the writing process
basic presentation techniques
critical and ethical use of references and other research material

Skills:

prepare and present research results both in written and oral formats in an engaging and understandable way
learn to give constructive feed-back to your peers on their writing and presentations refine your scientific English skills
how to conduct scientific searches
how to use a reference tool (EndNote X6) when writing

General competence:

plan, evaluate and edit your own scientific text
prepare and present a scientific presentation at scientific conferences
understand the relationship between knowledge and communicating knowledge

Language of instruction

English

Teaching methods

One week (the course starts in week 16 or 17), 31 hours of lectures and 4-11 h group-work. The teaching on the course will be a combination of theory and practical exercises in text editing, and presentation-techniques. We will work in small groups where we will evaluate and give constructive critique to each others texts and presentations. There is a possibility for filming the presentations.

Assessment

1) Pre-work assignment: Make a 10-minute presentation on your master-project. Use how to make scientific presentations - format as far as possible (found on Fronter).
2) Obligatory attendance on 80% of lectures
3) Obligatory attendance in group-work assignments

e) Post-work assignment: Give the presentation to your research-group/the institute/at a workshop or conference. Pass/Fail.