Intended learning outcomes

The student should, on completion of the course, be able to

apply skills and knowledge acquired within the computer science and engineering programme on a given problem
independently identify, formulate and analyse larger problems within computer science
identify own needs for information and independently acquire the knowledge and skills that are needed to solve the problem
justify his or her choice of method based on the question of issue and expected results
reflect on, evaluate and critically discuss own and others' results
document and present the work orally and in writing, with requirements of structure, contents, presentation, formal contents, style and writing
plan the work considering requirements of time and other resources.

Course main content and pedagogic setup

The students independently carry out a project in pairs, where they should formulate a question of issue that can be studied with methods from computer science. Each group is supervised by a teacher who is an experienced researcher and functions as a mentor. The main form of supervision constitute i) group seminars arranged by the teacher to discuss generic aspects of conducting a research study and monitor the students' progress, and ii) individual meetings to tackle more specific project content related problems (responsibility of individual students).

In the beginning of the course student groups choose their preferred project theme and following an initial literature study they formulate the leading research question and plan their project. This early effort is reported in writing as a mandatory project specification. Next, students perform a more extensive literature study, identify methods relevant to their project, apply them to obtain evidence necessary to address the project's research question and document their work in a written report. Before the final report is submitted students present their work in an oral form at a student conference arranged towards the end of the course. In addition, students provide peer feedback in writing prior to the conference and orally at the conference.

During the course there are also additional activities (seminars and lectures) organised for students to offer students generic insights into report writing and oral presentations.

The entire course follows a detailed schedule with concrete deadlines and deliverables.

Literature

No textbook. Most of reading materials are scientific publications relevant to individual projects. Students are responsible for finding suitable literature by themselves using, e.g., KTH library, Google Scholar search engine, Scopus, or KTH Diva repository. In addition, didactical materials concerned with generic aspects of writing a thesis report and delivering an oral presentation are available on the course website on KTH Social under Resources.

Examination

The course has one Ladok component UPP worth 15 hp, which consists of

written project specification (submitted as pdf in Canvas)
written report (submitted as pdf in Canvas)
written popular science project description
oral presentation (presented at the student conference)
written opposition/peer-review (submitted as pdf in Canvas)
oral opposition (presented at the student conference).

All these components are itemised in the Canvas gradebook and you will need a "P" (passing grade) for each of them.

For more information regarding the assessment scheme please refer to the course webpage on KTH Social under Assessment.

Code of Honor

There is a code of honor for students and teachers at most courses and programs given by the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer science. Every student should have read this code of honor.

Course evaluation and course analysis

At the end of the course round, a mandatory evaluation questionnaire will be sent out. The results of the questionnaire will be analyzed by the course coordinator and a course analysis will be published on the course web.