Academic Research and Practices (5cr)

Objectives (course unit)

This fundamental course familiarizes the student with the principles and methods of academic research and academic writing. It provides the participants with a toolbox to transform the initial development work into a well-structured and logical final thesis.
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When the student has passed the course he/she will know the following:
- difference between everyday knowledge and scientific knowledge
- meaning and justification of academic research in society
- nature of academic research
- rules and ethics of academic research
- differences between various research approaches
- most common research strategies and methods
- concepts of academic research
- critical perspective in information and sources
- research process stages
- importance of reference teqhnique
- structure of thesis
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After completing the course the student can:
- use and apply concepts of academic research
- identify and find academic texts and sources
- choose a suitable research approach and methods
- prepare a research plan
- apply academic reference technique
- plan thesis structure
- analyze academic texts
When the student has passed the course he/she will be:
- skillful in planning research setting
- a leader to plan academic publications/documents in the organization
- a professional to analyse and produce academic texts

Content (course unit)

- Basic concepts of academic research
- Rules and ethics of academic research
- Main strategies and approaches of academic research
- Structure of academic thesis
- Analyzing academic texts
- Preparing research plan

Assessment criteria, pass/fail (course unit)

Criteria for PASS:
The student understands the overall process of designing a research project from the beginning  to the final report. He/she is able to identify ethical issues in research. He/she knows the difference between quantitative and qualitative research. The student is familiar with the criteria for evaluating the quality of a research project. The student is able to articulate a research problem, formulate research questions, develop research objectives and build a theoretical framework. He/she is familiar with basic data collection and analysis methods. The student is able to write a research proposal. 

Location and time

January 2021 - June 2021

Exam schedules

No exam

Assessment methods and criteria

Student is able to use academic concepts of research, identifies academic texts and is able to analyse them. Student is able to produce thesis/research plan where he/she implements skills of setting research objectives and justification, research questions, data and methods and introduce theoretical background including suitable topic references.

Assessment scale

Pass/Fail

Teaching methods

Lecture, work shop, virtual team working, discussions, individual writing tasks

Learning materials

Will be published during the course

Student workload

5 cr = 135h of work
Pre task + contact day at Tamk 10h
Task February - March: concepts and theory 50h
Task April: Methodology 35h
Task May: thesis/reasearch plan 40h

Content scheduling

Orientation in January 2021
Tasks for March, April and May in Tabula

Completion alternatives

Must be discussed with teacher beforehand

Practical training and working life cooperation

Student selects

International connections

International student teams and working life connections

Assessment criteria - pass/fail (Not in use, Look at the Assessment criteria above)

Student is able to analyse and write academic text and write thesis/research plan on the personal field of study based on thesis instructions. Teacher might ask to fulfill report or thesis/research plan.