Seminar work. The seminar process: writing your report (70% of the grade)

Transcription

1 Seminar work The second half of the Watershed Engineering course builds on individual seminar work. Workload of this seminar project is estimated to be in total about 50 hours (individual work + participation in the seminars). The seminar work thus constitutes a significant part of the entire course, and we expect that you also allocate sufficient time for it. This also means you should start your seminar work early, preferably immediately. Each of you will be given an individual topic and presentation time: the topics build on and deepen/broader the themes of the lectures. The aim is that seminar work: 1) widens the scope of the lectures, 2) provides more in- depth ing of the selected topic, and 3) enables you to learn scientific report writing + presentation and communication skills. The seminar process: writing your report (70% of the grade) 1. Select your topic by marking the topic and your name in Doodle poll (address given later). DEADLINE for selecting your seminar topic is Friday Once you have a topic, read carefully this document + seminar introductory presentation, including their advices on methods and material. Also read seminar assessment criteria (available in MyCourses) to how the seminar work is being assessed. 3. After, decide the actual scope and formulate the timetable for your seminar work. You can re- define the scope as long as it corresponds with the given topic. 4. Write a scientific report that is comparable to scientific journal article. For suggested report structure, see below + seminar presentation. Cite your information sources appropriately in the text, and also provide a reference list (minimum of 10 references) at the end of your report. The references should also include peer- reviewed journal articles. The citation style is for you to decide, but Harvard style is recommended (e.g. To find scientific articles on your topic, use scientific search engines such as the Science Direct ( or Google Scholar ( To access the articles, you can log in through the web pages of the Aalto Library. 5. Approximate length of the report without any figures or tables should be about 8-10 pages (font 12 pt, spacing 1,5). The use of figures and tables (with correct citations) is highly recommended, and they naturally increase the length of the report. 6. Upload Early Draft Report to MyCourses 2 WEEKS BEFORE your seminar session Table of Contents + initial main points to all chapters + at least some key references 7. Upload the Seminar Report to MyCourses Turnitin submission page at least 48 HOURS i.e. 2 DAYS BEFORE your seminar session. Note that through Turnitin your report is checked against plagiarism: for more information, see MyCourses. Yhd Seminar instructions 1/5

2 Preparing your presentation (20% of the grade) 1. Your presentation should last for maximum 15 minutes, with additional 5-10 minutes reserved for questions and comments. Practice your presentation to keep the time! 2. You can decide the exact style of the presentation: you can use powerpoint slides and/or white board or even just talk/sing/perform without any written material. It is also warmly recommended to engage your audience i.e. fellow students into your presentation! If your presentation is in electronic format (powerpoint, pdf, etc.) upload it also to your Seminar Discussion Forum in MyCourses after your session 3. Prepare the presentation as if the audience does not know anything about the topic: be clear and structured and focus on your main points. 4. Be ready to answer questions and comments after your presentation. 5. During the seminar sessions, you are expected to ask questions and give comments on each other s presentations: be active also during others presentations! NOTE: NO PLAGIARISM! Produce only your own text as your original contribution, and make sure you cite all the references that you have used. Direct citation from other sources must be marked with quotation marks and the page number of the direct citation must be included in the reference (e.g. Keskinen 2010: 32). Possible plagiarism is always treated as fraud and leads to the rejection and possible actions of punishment by the university. The seminar reports may be checked with plagiarism checker. For more information, see Aalto s Code of Academic Integrity: Yhd Seminar instructions 2/5

3 Acting as an opponent (10% of the grade) Everyone will also act as opponent i.e. provide invited comments for someone else s report and presentation. This opponent session will be different one to the session where you present your own seminar work: you will thus participate at least in two seminar sessions If there are seminar dates that are not suitable to you (i.e. you cannot act as an opponent during that date), please inform us as soon as possible by yhd @aalto.fi 1. Your opponent topic and date is defined after all the seminar topics have been selected, and it will be informed through our MyCourses webpage so stay tuned! 2. Once you know to whom you act as an opponent, you must yourself download his/her seminar report from MyCourses: the presenter will upload it to MyCourses 48 hours before the presentation. It is also recommended to read and comment Early Draft Report that the presenter uploads to MyCourses 2 weeks before the presentation. 3. Based on the Final Seminar Report, write a brief Opponent s Statement and bring it with you to your opponent session. To help you to write the Opponent s Statement, you can consider e.g. following questions: Did the report contents correspond with the given topic? Was the work clear and logical? What about the references? Main strengths: what were the best aspects and key findings of the report? Possible weaknesses? Obvious errors? You should provide your comments in constructive manner: don t focus only on things to be improved, but always note also the main strengths of the work. It is recommended to start and finish with the strengths of the work, and note possible places for improvement in the middle ( hamburger method ). 4. Come to the opponent session on time, and listen & provide comments to all the presentations, not just the one you are opponent for. This is your opportunity to learn! 5. After hearing the presentation you act as an opponent for, provide your comments on both the report and the presentation in constructive manner. Your comments will be based on your pre- written Opponent s Statement, but you should also comment briefly the presentation (e.g. was it clear and how it corresponded with the report). 6. After your opponent session, update your Opponent s Statement (if seen necessary) and then copy- paste it to MyCourses to the discussion thread of the person whose seminar work you commented. Yhd Seminar instructions 3/5

4 Evaluation & further information The evaluation of the seminar work is based on the content, quality and clarity of the seminar report and the presentation as well as your activity during the seminar sessions. The grade thus consists from the Seminar Report (70% from the total grade), Seminar Presentation (20% from the total grade) and acting as an opponent (10% from the total grade). The grade for the seminar work contributes 50% for the total grade (other 50% comes from the exercises), and the grade for the seminar work will be given with one decimal (e.g. 4.3). The actual grade is done with the help of Assessment Matrix (Rubric) available as a separate file in the MyCourse s Seminar Work sub- page (copy- pasted also below in not- so- easy- to- read format). Read the assessment criteria carefully already before starting your seminar work to how the grades will generally be given. Watershed)Engineering)seminar:)Assessment)Matrix)(rubric) Indicator))))))))))))))) (%)contribution))))))))) to)the)grade) Report)(70%) Structure:)clarity)of)the)report) (10%) Contents:)synthesis)of)the)used) literature)and)logic)of) argumentation)(analytical,) critical,)original))(50%) SCORE fail very)poor poor average/good very)good excellent Impossible)to)read)and) Very)poor)contents)with))))))) no)analytical)insights)and)))))) no)synthesis)of)used)literature Almost)impossible)to)read)and) Completely)lacking)analytical)insight) and)synthesis:)mere)repetition)of) what)is)said)in)literature)and/or)text) presenting)just)opinions,)not) literatureqbased)facts Difficult)to)read)and) The)key)points)from)the)literature) but)with)only)weak)synthesis Easy)to)read)and),) although)some)parts)partly)unclear Text)synthesises)the)used)literature) and)also)includes)some)critical) analysis)and)reflection Entire)report)is)easy)to)read)and) Well)written)text)that)synthesises) the)used)literature)and)also)includes) critical)analysis)&)reflection Delight)to)read:)main)points)are))))) clear)and)text)runs)fluently Very)well)written)text)that) synthesises)diverse)literature)in) analytical)&)critical)manner,))) creating)credible)argumentation References:)the)use,)amount))))))) &)quality)(10%) No)or)very)weak/random) references Citation)style)very)poor)+)very) limited)number)of)references)and/or) no)scientific)references. Citation)style)ok)+)sufficient)amount) Poor)citation)style)and/or)relying)))) of)references,)including)scientific) to)only)very)few)references articles Correct)citation)style)+)large) number)of)highqquality)references Correct)citation)style)+)large) number)of)highqquality)references) representing)differing)viewpoints Presentation)(20%) Structure)&)clarity)+)contents Impossible)to)follow)and/or) no)analysis)on)the)theme Almost)impossible)to)follow)+) analysis/argumentation)unclear) Difficult)to)follow)and/or)challenges) with)argumentation)and/or) originality Presentation)is)easy)to)follow)and) provides)a)clear)analysis)that) includes)also)own)insights Presentation)is)very)easy)to)follow) and)it)includes)wellqstructured) analysis)with)own)argumentation Presentation)is)delight)to)follow,) and)it)includes)exceptionally)good) and)clear)analysis)and)also)own) argumentation Acting)as)an)opponent)(10%) Contents)+)clarity)of)the) comments)(10%) Doesn't))the)topic;) clearly)hasn't)read)the)report Comments)missing)the)point Comments)focusing)to)only)very) limited)part)of)the)entire)work Comments)capture)well)the)main) points)of)the)seminar)work Comments)good)and)provide)also) new)insight)into)the)topic Very)thorough)and)wellQarticulated) comments,)providing)new)insights) and)extending)the)discussion!!!!!!!!!note:!the!descriptions!are!indicative!only,!and!the!assessment!of!individual!seminar!works!is!always!context:dependent!(as!all!the!reports!and!presentations!are!different). Yhd Seminar instructions 4/5

5 Seminar report: structure There are different ways to write a report, and its actual structure depends also from your topic. Generally, however, the reports should follow the structure of scientific articles: it is thus a good idea to browse through several articles to learn how they are written. Overall, the report should have the following structure: Report title: with your name, study number + Abstract: around words Introduction (~1 page): context + objectives Material & Methods (~1 page): how the study was done. Usually as a literature review of selected references, so describe how the references were selected. Method = a systematic approach for analysing the written material. If possible, draw a simple diagram for material and methods Results (~3-5 page): The beef i.e. the main findings: describing in critical & synthesizing manner what the material (i.e. literature) say about your topic. Note! This should not be just a listing of findings from different articles, but you should provide a critical synthesis of the different opinions. Thus, you may also note the differences related to topic, and then also provide your own conclusion if possible: While Keskinen et al. (2014) notes that the colour of the sun is blue, Koivusalo (2009) come into different conclusion, showing in their analysis that it is yellow: this report uses the latter definition. Discussion (~1-2 page): Your reflections on topic, literature + entire process Note! Unlike other parts of the report, here you can be more subjective and hence to provide your personal views ( I feel, As a result, I believe that This chapter should have two sub- chapters: 1) one providing general reflection of the topic and your results, and 2) one discussing your research process, with its strengths and weaknesses. Conclusions (~1 page): Synthesis of the entire report, including main findings and their significance more broadly References: minimum 10 references, including scientific articles Yhd Seminar instructions 5/5