~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 and other course material
- 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.
Lecture slides will be available from all lectures, as well as lecture videos from 2020. The homework assignments
will specify additional required reading, for example in the form of scientific articles.
Lectures
The lectures are given online. The zoom link to the lectures is
https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/69389590326
Links to an external site.
There will be time allocated for questions and discussion during the 15 min break as well
at the end of each lecture. Please make good use of this opportunity by preparing ahead of time
using the online material.
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. 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 based on a student survey.
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 weeks at the end of period 1 and period 2. You may be given a special assignment (reading + oral presentation). An Announcement will be made ahead of the make-up
seminars about the booking procedure.
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 two days before the first scheduled date of the corresponding seminar, see the course schedule, and the assignments for the exact deadline.
You are required to anonymously review the work of some of the course participants each week (2 or 3). 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 will be done in Canvas, while the 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 seminar leaders 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 17). This is not mandatory, but for students who
have done the quizzes and would like a higher grade than E. - An additional oral exam for grade B-A, for students receiving a C on the written exam who would like to raise their grade.
The schedule of the online quizzes will be published later. The first will appear at the end of lecture 3. All quizzes must be
passed - make-up quiz will be scheduled at the end of the study periods 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 coordinator)
Mats Nordahl
Please address any questions relating to the course primarily to me.
You are also welcome to call me on my mobile at 0730794294.
Seminar leaders
| Mats Nordahl | group 1 and 2 |
| Matteo Tadiello | group 3 and 4 |
| Ilaria Carannante | group 5 and 6 |
| Musard Balliu | group 7 and 8 |
| Mohit Daga | group 9 and 10 |
| Deepika Tiwari | group 11 and 12 |
Administrative support
If you need to re-register for the course, please contact EECS service center