~Course Memo
Examination
- HEM1 - Homework and Seminars, 1.5, grade scale: P, F
- HEM3 - Essay, 1.5, grade scale: A, B, C, D, E, FX, F
- TEN1 - Examination, 3.0, grade scale: A, B, C, D, E, FX, F
Schedule
The course schedule is available through KTH Social (links to an external site).
Textbooks
- James Ladyman: Understanding Philosophy of Science. Routledge ISBN 9780415221573
- Nicholas Walliman: Research Methods - the basics. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-48994-2
The books by Ladyman and Walliman are available at the Campus bookstore. If you do not see the books in the bookstore - please ask the staff and they will help you. A budget alternative is to rent electronic Kindle versions at amazon.com.
Lectures
All lectures in the course are given online. The zoom link to the lectures is
https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/69389590326 Links to an external site.
Seminars
The course includes 10 mandatory one hour (45 minutes effective time) seminars, scheduled each week of the course. Students are divided into 12 seminar groups that stay fixed during the course. Because of the covid-19 pandemic, both online seminar groups and physical seminar groups at KTH will be offered. The group assignment will be carried out at the start of the course.
If you have a schedule conflict with another course, you may swap groups with another student on the Seminar Group Swap Page. If you have medical symptoms that require you to work from home, you have the opportunity to switch from a physical to an online seminar at the same time.
If you miss a seminar, e.g., due to illness or other unavoidable circumstances, there will be a makeup opportunity in the exam week at the end of period 1 and period 2. You may be given a special assignment (reading + oral presentation). Book a slot for seminar make-up through the Seminars page.
A mandatory homework assignment must be completed before each seminar (see below). The seminar exercises are based on the homework assignments. You will not be admitted to the seminar if you have not done the homework, or if you are more than 5 minutes late. Attendance in an online seminar means being present on camera for the entire seminar.
Homework and peer assessment
A written homework assignment must be completed before each seminar. Homework is due by 22:00 the day before the first scheduled date of the corresponding seminar, see the course schedule.
You are required to anonymously review the work of some of the course participants each week (typically three). Studies show that peer assessment improves your ability to assess your own work, which in turn improves your performance. For further reading, see The assessment cycle: a model for learning through peer assessment Links to an external site..
The submission of homework and peer assessment will be done in Peergrade, which is currently being set up for the course.
The grading of the homework (pass/redo/fail) is done by the TAs and results will be reported in Canvas.
Exam
The course exam consists of three parts:
- 5 online quizzes during the course for the grade E
- An online final quiz/exam for grades D-C (scheduled Dec 7)
- An additional oral exam for grade B-A (scheduled individually for those who is
The online quizzes will be scheduled for the last 15 minutes of lectures 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 (i.e., Sept 21, Oct 5, Nov 3, Nov 19, and Dec 1). All quizzes must be passed - a make-up quiz will be scheduled at the end of the course for those who fail or cannot take part in a quiz.
More detailed information will be made available in the Exam module and in the lectures.
Essay
A written essay is required at the end of the course. The purpose of the essay is to train scientific writing and to reflect on how the course content can be applied in your degree project. You will practice both scientific writing and writing in a popular science style. See the Essay module for more information (the essay information will be published in period 2). Essays are graded A-F.
Final grade
Both the Exam grade and the Essay grade must be a passing grade (E or higher) to pass the course. The final grade is then the mean of the Exam grade and the Essay grade, rounded up.
Examiner and course responsible
Contact (course administrator)
Mats Nordahl
mobile 0730794294
Teaching assistants
| Mats Nordahl | group 1 and 2 |
| Mohit Daga | group 3 and 4 |
| Ilaria Carannante | group 5 and 6 |
| Erik Fransén | group 7 and 8 |
| Guangyi Zhang | group 9 and 10 |
| He Ye | group 11 and 12 |
Administrative support
If you need to re-register for the course, please contact EECS service center