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Syllabus, Contents, and Learning Outcomes

Content	This course is a masters thesis seminar and gives support to students writing their masters thesis in the fields of philosophy of science, cognitive science (including the Middle European interdisciplinary Joint Master Program in Cognitive Science (MEi:CogSci)), and/or knowledge technologies. It is designed as an interdisciplinary course where students can present and discuss their current work, issues and problems, and their plans for their thesis. It gives room both for presentations and discussions. The course is designed in such a way that there will be enough space for reflection of your research projects and your questions. Students of the MEi:CogSci Joint masters program participate in the process of the MEi:CogSci student conference (paper writing, peer-reviewing, presentation at the conmference, etc.)
Learning Outcomes & Goals	Subject specific Depends on the current topics and reserach questions Gain insight into the field and scientific culture of respective fields and research questions Understanding and awareness of problems in processes of writing a masters thesis Awareness of the differences in scientific cultures and terminologies Understanding of the relationship between natural sciences, humanities, and other forms of scientific and (so-called) non-scientific knowledge, as well as scientific work in progress
	Methodological Gain familiarity with methods of knowledge creation, of writing a thesis, of online/offline resercah methods relevant in scientific processes Gain familiarity with a range of methodological and epistemological approaches and their methodologies relevant to philosophy of science, cognitive science, and knowledge technologies and discern differences and commonalities between them Gain familiarity with peer-review processes and presentations for scientific conference
	Generic Instrumental Ability to read, present, and discuss relevant literature Understanding and awareness of problems in processes of writing a masters thesis Ability to critically think and to reflect on different approaches in an interdisciplinary context Ability to work both in an analytical and synthetic mode Ability to assume a meta-perspective and to think in larger contexts Ability to reflect on one’s implicit assumptions concerning one’s discipline or approach Interpersonal Ability to communicate in physical and virtual environments Ability to discuss different points of view in an interdisciplinary team Ability to appreciate individual expertise Systemic Ability to reflect upon and discuss individual motivation and interests in the context of ones personal and scientific identity
Teaching Methods & Course Design	This course makes use of the following didactical elements: preparing presentations and whole didactical designs for presenting a specific masters thesis discussion of open questions, problems, methodological issues, etc. feedback team sessions: these are open sessions for student questions, input on reserach methods, etc. inputs concerning online reserach methods
Target Group	This course is mainly designed as an advanced philosophy of science and cognitive science course for advanced masters students. It is open for students from all disciplines who are writing their masters thesis in the fields of philosophy of science, cognitive science, and/or knowledge technologies. This course is explicitly designed for an interdisciplinary audience; students are expected to be open to other disciplines/perspectives, to share their knowledge, to reflect their (hidden) assumptions, as well as to be involved personally.

Topics, dates, and locations

Unit	Date/Time	Location	Theme
1	March 5, 2012 12-14	HS 2i, NIG	Introduction & community building Presentation of course design, contents, learning outcomes, etc. Introduction of students and teachers Selecting topics and setting up presentations Register for this seminar here!
2	March 9, 2012 14.00-17.00	HS 3E, NIG	Team session Exchanging knowledge, thoughts, feelings etc. regarding the following topics in a relaxed atmosphere: Status quo (where are you now, defining goals and timeframe, finding out if there are special personal needs) Master Thesis Concept Short presentation; Long presentation Deadlines
3	April 19, 2012 10-13	HS 3F, NIG (!)	Presentations & Discussions short presentation of masters thesis topics presentations & discussions
4	April 30, 2012 9-13	HS 2i, NIG	Presentations & Discussions check-in presentations & discussions
6	May 3, 2012 9-13	HS 3F, NIG (!)	Presentations & Discussions check-in presentations & discussions
8	May 10, 2012 9.30-13	HS 3F, NIG (!)	Presentations & Discussions check-in presentations & discussions
9	May 11, 2012 14.00-17.00	HS 3E, NIG	Research methods & team session Reflection of work status (what did/ did not work) Abstract (upload procedure) Deadlines
	June 1, 2012 14.00-17.00	HS 2H, NIG	Research methods & team session Conference presentation Future goals
11	June 22, 2012 9-20	University of Bratislava	MEi:CogSci Student Conference see MEi:CogSci WWW-site for further information
12	June 23, 2012 9-19	University of Bratislava	MEi:CogSci Student Conference see MEi:CogSci WWW-site for further information

Grading and academic honesty

Grading

There are two paradigms of grading:

A| presentation & term paper
B| presentation & MEi:CogSci student conference participation (this option is compulsory for all MEi:CogSci students in the 4th semester)

A| presentation & term paper

For completing this course you are supposed to give a presentation of your work, you have to be present for all classes, and write a term paper ("Seminararbeit")

work	points/weight
presentation in seminar	50%
term paper	50%
You have to deliver both a presentation and a term paper. If one of them is missing this will result in a negative grade. With registering for this course in the first session you commit yourself to participating in this course and you are subject to receiving a grade.

Criteria for term paper:

style of a scientific paper (title, research question(s), review of existing reserach, arguments, citations, etc.)
length: 10-15 pages
+ title page containig:
- your name
- student ID ("Matrikelnummer)
- the name of study program(s) you are enrolled in (please do not write the number, but the name of your study programs)
- study program number you need the grade for
deadline: June 15
papers which are received after this deadline will not be consiederd for the final grade!

B| Presentation and student conference participation (this option is compulsory for all MEi:CogSci students!)

This option is compulsory for MEi:CogSci students, however it is open also for students not enrolled in this program

work	points/weight
Presentation in seminar	25%
Interdisciplinary extended abstract/paper for MEi:CogSci student conference Criteria for MEi:CogSci student conference abstract/paper: in the style of an extended abstract in the style of a scientific paper (title, research question(s), review of existing reserach, arguments, citations, etc.) length: 2-3 pages use the template from the MEi:CogSci Conference-WWW-pages deadline: see review process of MEi:CogSci student conference papers which are received after this deadline will not be consiederd for the final grade!	30%
Active participation in the peer-review process of the MEi:CogSci student conference	20%
Presentation at the MEi:CogSci student conference	25%
If one of these outcomes is missing this will result in a negative grade. With registering for this course in the first session you commit yourself to participating in this course and you are subject to receiving a grade.

Final Grading

points/%	93-100	81-92	71-80	61-70	0-60
grade	sehr gut (1)	gut (2)	befriedigend (3)	genügend (4)	nicht genügend (5)

Academic honesty

You are expected to be familiar with university policies on plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty. By registering for this course/module you declare that all your work (presentations, submissions, papers, etc.) is your own work and that, to the best of your knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at this or any other educational institution. In addition, you certify that all information sources and literature used are indicated in your work.

Plagiarism or cheating will result in a failing grade for this course; offenders may be subject to further administrative sanctions.