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Seminars

Reflection seminars, prosamm16

There are eight mandatory 50 minute reflection seminars in the course. See the detailed schedule for the entire list. The instructions for each seminar will be placed in the sub-menu to "Seminars" one week before the deadline for posting the reflection document. In the reflection seminars you will meet in groups of about a dozen students and a computer science teacher (mentor). Half of the students are studying their first year of the Master's program and half of the students are studying their second year.

Before each seminar, you need to do the following

  • Read the instructions for the seminar.
  • Read the material that you are asked to read about the topic for the seminar. There may also be some videos to view.
  • Write a reflection document, answering and reflecting on the questions of the seminar. Use any document format that can be converted to a Google Document  (for example .txt, .doc, .docx, .rtf or .html) and name the file for example My-Name-prosamm-period-Y. The document should be between 500 and 600 words and written in English. You may also be asked to fill in a questionnaire or perform some other task.
  • Make your Google document readable and commentable by others. 
    Put the URL to the Google document in a text file in your group's seminar directory. The name of the file should be your first name dash second name, without any dots or accents. Example: if your name is Håkan Idé the file name should be Hakan-Ide
    Here is a video showing the exact uploading steps. 
  • Read the reflection documents of the other group members and write at least one comment in each document.
  • Read the other group members' comments on your document.

After these preparations you should go to the seminar and actively discuss the topic. 

One of the intended learning outcomes of the course is that you should plan and carry out assignments within stipulated time. Therefore it is very important that you submit the reflection documents and comment on the other documents on time.

What if you don't want to share your reflections with Google Docs?

If you don't want to submit your reflections as a Google document you should put both your reflection document and your comments of the other documents on the group's seminar directory. Then use PDF as document format and name the files Hakan-Ide.pdf and comments-by-Hakan-Ide.pdf (if your name is Håkan Idé). Each comment will then need to cite the part of the document that it comment. When the group members comment Hakan-Ide.pdf they should write the comment in a file named Hakan-Ide-comments-by-Firstname-Surname.txt or  Hakan-Ide-comments-by-Firstname-Surname.pdf, depending on if they would like to use text format or PDF, where the group member's name is Firstname Surname.

What if you cannot participate in the seminar?

If you know in advance that you will not be able to participate in the seminar, you should in good time contact the administrative course co-ordinator, who will then try to find a time with a different group. If this is not possible, you have to write a two-page reflection on the others' reflections instead and mail it (as a PDF document) to your mentor.

You must still submit your reflection document on time and comment on the other documents.

What happens if you do not submit your reflection document on time?

The course is based on everyone submitting their reflection documents on time. If you do not, you have to write a double length reflection (at least 1000 words) and mail it to your mentor (as well as putting it in Google Docs etc. in the ordinary way).

What happens if you do not comment on the other documents on time?

If you have not commented (relevantly) on six of the other documents on time, you will need to do this later, and also comment on every comment the other group members have made in your own document. If there are no comments of your own document you will need to write a relevant comment in each of the others' documents, which might be a comment of a comment. Collect the URLs to all documents you commented and mail them to your mentor.

What if you study abroad?

If you are studying abroad for a period, you should carry out the reflection seminar tasks remotely. Then you get the chance to share your experiences of the exchange studies with the rest of the group. 

Pay attention to when it is time for submission of reflection documents of the course. In addition to the ordinary reflection you should reflect on the exchange studies, if possible in the context of the topic of the seminar. You should write a little more than usual (about 800 words), but on the other hand, you won't need to participate in the reflection seminar. You will of course still read and comment on the other group members' reflection documents. Your mentor will report in Rapp as if you had participated in the seminar. Add a note at the top of the reflection that you are reflecting on your exchange studies instead of attending the seminar.

If you are on exchange studies during period 2 you should try to organize your own study visit in the city where you study. You should visit an IT company or IT research group at the university, and the visit should last between 20 and 60 minutes. If it is not possible to find a study visit you will have to do an extra assignment described in the instructions to the seminar in period 2.