AARH USUN IVER SITE T INFORMATION GUIDE FOR EXCHANGE STUDENTS

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE FACULTY OF SOCIAL SC IENCES AARHUS UNIVERSITY

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Contents

Part 1 – when you arrive .......................................................................................... 5 The Introduction Day by the student counsellors .............................................. 5 Which seminars to expect ............................................................................................. 6 Organisation of seminars ............................................................................................... 6 AULA – the teaching web-site ..................................................................................... 7 Writing a home assignment ......................................................................................... 7 An intensive course on information search on political science........... 11 Oral presentation techniques ................................................................................... 12 Academic integrity and professional ethics – also a ‘must’ for students of political science ...................................................................................... 15 Part 2 – Teaching from three different perspectives ....................................... 18 Seminars as learning environments – the framework for research-based teaching ........................................................................................... 18 The lecturer’s perspective ........................................................................................... 25 The students’ perspective on learning and seminar participation ...... 28 Student counsellors ........................................................................................................ 32

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INFORMATION GUIDE FOR EXCHANGE STUDENTS Studying at the Department of Political Science, Aarhus University

Part 1 – when you arrive The Introduction Day by the student counsellors The semester starts on September 1st and on February 1st, and being present at the Department during the first week of classes is vital. You will be welcomed by the head of Department and you will have the opportunity to meet some of your future lecturers. You will get practical information among other things about the computer lab, how to print, and how to find information and borrow books at the libraries on campus. The seminars that you will be attending will have the first session during this week. The first class gives you an introduction to the content of the seminar, and the lecturer’s expectations about your participation. Thus, attending the first class is crucial for you to

understand the expectations and requirements you will be faced with later on during the final examination. In short, do not miss the first week! For the students arriving at the university for the autumn semester, an introductory week called "rus-uge" takes place the week prior to semester start. This event functions as a social icebreaker for international and Danish students attending the Department of Political Science. As some international students arrive in Denmark too late to participate in the Denmark Today or Destination Denmark programme, the introduction week for international students focuses more on helping the students to get to know Aarhus. However, there will still be social activities for international students exclusively and together with the Danish freshmen. The schedule for the internation-

6 al students can be found on http://www.stat-rus.dk/Program_ENG.html where you will also find a presentation of students’ clubs, students’ associations and other information.

Which seminars to expect Each semester the Department offers seminars at the advanced BA-level/MA-level covering the following three themes: 1) Danish politics and the Welfare state. This seminar is compulsory for the department’s exchange students and exchange students from other Departments are welcome; 2) Globalisation; and 3) EU, EU-politics and Europeanization. In addition, the Department offers 8 to 10 MA-seminars within the six main subdisciplines of political science: comparative politics, international relations, political theory, public policy, public administration, and sociology. The topics of the seminars vary each semester as they are closely linked with the current research topics of the academic staff. The seminar topics will be announced on the website in May and November. Please check the website frequently for possible changes http://mit.au.dk/kursuskatalog/

Organisation of seminars Seminars are mostly organised as two-hour sessions once a week for 10 to 15 weeks depending on the type of examination. There will be between 15 and 22 participants in each seminar. With the exception of the seminar Danish politics and the wel-

fare state, you will be sitting in a class room with both Danish and fellow exchange students. Seminars are held in a relaxing and informal atmosphere. This may be unusual to some of you compared with your home university. Always remember that you should feel free to ask questions and to make comments. Your active participation during sessions is expected and will be to the benefit of everyone involved. Choices on the practical organisation of seminars often reflect the type of examination. At present the types of examination are as follows: 1)

2)

3)

4) 5)

Home assignment on a subject of the student’s own choice – maximum 6,000 words oral examination based on a synopsis in a subject of the student’s own choice – 800-1.200 words oral examination with 30 minutes’ preparation time in a randomly picked subject 7-days home assignment 6-hour written examination.

Seminars that require a written home assignment on a subject of your own choice will often give you an outline of existing literature and analysis within a broader thematic research issue. The main bulk of your work, however, is on utilising theories, approaches and methods on a research topic that you select yourself.

7 Seminars with an oral examination based on a synopsis vary somewhat depending on the lecturer, but in general you are required to do some research on a topic of your choice and to account for any other issues in the seminar curriculum. Hence, the requirements on your own research part are not as thorough as in the case of a home assignment. Seminars with examination types 3 to 5 are more focused on the curriculum and require more in-depth knowledge and discussions of the chosen texts. All students want to pass the exam with an A (12) or at least a B (10), but as the academic standards at the Department are very high, only very few students do, however. And even fewer students manage to get all A’s and B’s. This should not discourage you from making the effort to do so. Mostly, the students own efforts when studying a subject, writing a paper or preparing an oral performance are reflected in the final grade. You will also face other challenges, which for non-English speakers means doing your studies in a foreign language. You should therefore not be too harsh on yourself when passing with a C (7), maybe a D (4), or even be happy that you do pass at all with an E (02). If you do not pass – FX (00) or F (-3) – you may have a re-examination in the form of a home assignment regardless of the type of examination of the seminar. This home assignment may be written from your

home country. However, in contrast to some other university systems be aware that if you pass an examination, you do not have a second chance to improve your grade.

AULA – the teaching web-site In most cases there will be a website for your seminar at www.aula.au.dk. At the seminar website you will find a plan for the seminar, curriculum, links to articles etc. The website is also a means for communication between lecturer and class, and you may be asked to upload different assignments on the website. It is therefore important that you register at the website and that you indicate your most frequently used e-mail address. At first you may find it complicated to navigate at AULA. But you will soon get to know it, and once you have registered at the seminar site there should be no more complications. In any case you will find a manual for AULA at the secretariat.

Writing a home assignment To many this is perhaps the most challenging type of examination. But at the same time it gives you the best preparation for writing your Master’s Thesis regardless of what country you come from. So do sign up for seminars that require you to write a paper. On the other hand, it is hardly recommendable to sign up for more than one seminar with home assignments since writing and researching a paper is a very time

8 The Danish grading scale

THE GRADING SCALE Danish Grade

Definition

ECTS Grade

12

For an excellent performance displaying a high level of command of all aspects of the relevant material, with no or only a few minor weaknesses

A

10

For a very good performance displaying a high level of command of most aspects of the relevant material, with only minor weaknesses

B

7

For a good performance displaying good command of the relevant material but also some weaknesses

C

4

For a fair performance displaying some command of the relevant material but also some major weaknesses

D

02

For a performance meeting only the minimum requirements for acceptance

E

00

For a performance which does not meet the minimum requirements for acceptance

FX

-3

For a performance which is unacceptable in all respects

F

consuming process. This may leave you with a limited number of seminars that you can select in a semester, but keep in mind that although the seminar title does not in-

trigue you, you may always – within the broad subject of the seminar – find an angle that is interesting also to you when you select a topic for your research paper. A

9 written report or paper consists of a maximum of 6,000 words excluding table of contents and references. The maximum must be taken literally. If your paper exceeds the maximum amount of words, it will not be accepted. And it is always possible to shorten a text. This is especially true when we write in a foreign language. We tend to become more ‘wordy’ than we would otherwise be, and experience shows that when rewriting a text you can easily cut 10 per cent. In a home assignment you have to demonstrate the following skills: 1) knowledge and familiarity with the subject at hand, 2) active use of theories and methodologies that you have learned, and 3) collecting your own material, articles, documents etc. To be able to do your own research, a special course on information search at the library will be arranged (see below). A home assignment is based on your own research, i.e. the process where on the basis of a preliminary problem formulation, you collect and analyse data in order to shed light on a research problem. The clearer your research question, the easier it will be for you to establish and maintain the focus required throughout the paper. To get through the different aspects of a term paper, please consider how you would answer the following five questions: 1) What is your research question? 2) Why is it interesting or relevant to study the question?

3) What case or cases will you investigate? 4) Based upon a specific theory, what is your expected answer to the research question? 5) What methods and research design will you use to answer the question? Seminars that end with a home assignment often offer the students an opportunity to get comments on their draft paper from the lecturer and from fellow students. Similarly, students are often required to give opponent critique on fellow students’ papers. When giving opponent critique, your main task is to identify the writer’s research question and assess whether the inherent question or hypothesis has been answered. In addition, you should give recommendations on how the writer may improve the paper. You may follow the five questions listed above when preparing to give opponent critique. How to make references In academic work it is of outmost importance that references are thorough and correct. This is important because others must be able to control your sources as the basis for academic discussions. There are many different ways to make references. Some of you are used to make references in footnotes or even endnotes. The following will introduce you to the way references most frequently are made at our Department.

10 When you make a reference to a work immediately after having mentioned it in the text, you should state surname, year, and page in that order. In-text references (Berger 1968: 68) If you are referring to more than one work, do as follows: (Berger 1968: 68; Luhmann 1992: 13) If you are referring to the same work you may use "ibid." (ibidem = the same): (Ibid.: 477) References The works you have referred to shall be listed at the end of your manuscript with the title References in alphabetic order. It is important that your referencing method is consistent, i.e. you use one and only one system for all your references. If the same author appears more than once, the oldest work shall be listed first. Make only one list of references. Monographs Sir name, first name (year): Title of the monograph in italics. Place of publication: publisher. Holmes, Leslie (2006) Rotten States?

Corruption, Post-Communism and Neo-liberalism. Durham: Duke University Press. Chapters in an anthology Surname, first name (year): “Title of the chapter within “-“, relevant pages in first

name and surname(s) of the editor(s), of the anthology in italic. Place of publication: publisher. Watt, David, Rachel Flanary and Robin Theobald (2000): ”Democratisation or the Democratisation of Corruption? The case of Uganda”, pp 37-64 in Doig, Alan & Robin Theobald (eds), (2000) Corruption and Democratisation. London, Portland: Frank Cass. Articles in journals Surname, first name (year): “Title of the article within “-“ “, Title of the journal in italics, Volume, (number): relevant pages. Castells, Manuel (2000): ”Materials for an Exploratory Theory of the Network Society”, British Journal of Sociology, 51 (1): 5-24. Web sites #Surname#, #First name#/or institutional affiliation# (#publication year#): #Title in quotation marks#, #webside adress# #date for downloading the text# Department of Health (2007): ”Shaping health care for the next decade”, Wednesday 4 July 2007 13:00, http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/full Deail.asp?ReleaseID=296706&NewsArea ID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=True (14/8 2007)

11 An intensive course on information search on political science

www.vts.intute.ac.uk/he/tutorial/eurostudies

Place: State and University Library. Meeting place: the main lobby. Date: to be announced – 4-5 weeks in the semester. Check the exchange students’ website.

www.vts.intute.ac.uk/he/tutorial/intlrelations

The general aim of the course is as follows: 1) to make the participants familiar with the contents and facilities of the most important social science databases; and 2) to train the participants in the use of the social science databases as an integrated element in academic problem-based learning focusing on political science. The specific aims of the course are as follows: 1) to demonstrate the databases of Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, Web of Science, Scopus and others and to introduce the bibliographic and full text content, criteria for inclusion, search facilities, special points of interest; and 2) via hands-on, questions and answers, exercises and discussions to train the use of social science databases and in particular how to do a systematic search, how to plan a search strategy, how to evaluate search results etc. Instead of going through a list of recommended literature, we recommend you to prepare for this course by taking a look at one or two of these tutorials:

www.vts.intute.ac.uk/he/tutorial/government

www.vts.intute.ac.uk/he/tutorial/sociologist www.vts.intute.ac.uk/he/tutorial/socialresearch-methods

Also please bring your ideas for papers, theses etc. as it will be possible to work on these during the course.

12 Oral presentation techniques (Revision of a text by late professor, Ole Nørgaard) The ability to communicate professional insight and understanding is an important capability for political science candidates, and is a trademark of the education at the Department. Insight and knowledge, however important it is, do not always result in an interesting and successful presentation. To get your message understood and heard by the audience, you must make the effort to prepare your performance. The following will take you through some problems and techniques that you should keep in mind when an oral presentation is being prepared. However – the only way to learn the skill is by means of practical exercise. So take every opportunity to practice the oral presentation at seminars, when presenting a report or giving an opponent critique to the work of others. This will help you become a better presenter – something that also will assist you in your oral examinations. At the same time, studying at seminars will also be more exciting and fruitful for you and your fellow students.

What is an oral presentation? An oral presentation is the superstructure where you present the main key points and arguments of a larger work. This work can be your own analysis of a subject, articles

included in the curriculum, or a critical assessment of one of your fellow students’ written reports. In the case of oral examinations the presentation is also where you demonstrate that you indeed are well informed about the curriculum. Before the presentation – preparation is needed When preparing an oral presentation for a typical seminar, you must remember that you only have 10 to 15 minutes for your presentation. You will therefore have to stick to the most important points and build up you own reasoning and argument for why this is important. Often you will be given a concrete question that you have to build you presentation around – the most important thing is to focus your presentation by simply answering the question. The first step in your preparation is the creative part. Some of you may have heard about ‘mind maps’. ‘Mind mapping’ is a technique where you write down every possible thought that you find related to the subject you are going to present. At this stage it is important not to try to organise and structure your thoughts but to let your imagination and creativity work. A simple tool to let your creativity work is to turn your paper 90 degrees. Place your subject in the centre of the paper and draw your associations from the subject in different lines and sub lines. Rather than sentences use key words, pictures, colours etc. That will help you remember the different aspects of your

13 speech. At this stage quantity is more important than quality (although quality never harm). After five to ten minutes stop and look at your paper – you may be surprised how much you actually know about your subject. Then you are prepared for the next step. The second step is to organise your presentation. First find out what the main information that you want to pass on is. Second, underline or colour the subordinate issues to this information. You will probably turn up with two or three lines of arguments. The third step is to rank your key information so they end up making one argument on the subject you are talking about. At this stage you think goal-oriented on your presentation. What is the goal of your presentation and how do you want to reach it? Organise your presentation in the main elements of your argument: Subject => relevant elements/examples => point of view =>conclusion and relevance for next subject etc. You may imagine this as a Christmas tree. The tree trunk is the core substance (spend the most of your time on this), the greens are important elements and the pins are details (use less time on those). The shorter the time allowed for the presentation, the more thorough preparation you will have to undertake.

The presentation When structuring the content of the presentation it is important to be aware of the audience’s attention curve. In the beginning of a presentation the audience’s attention will normally be high, it will then start to fall and increase again towards the end. Therefore the first two to three minutes are crucial for the successful presentation. The opening of a presentation shall accordingly contain something relevant, interesting, and exciting along with insight. These are high demands, but if the preparation has been of substantial quality it is a possible demand and it almost guarantees success. A good rule-of-thumb is to “tell them what you want to say – say it – and tell them what you have said”. It emphasises the importance of making a short introduction to the contents and the structure of the presentation, it stresses the importance that each section should be rounded off by short summaries – and that a thorough summary on the entire presentation should be given. In the end it is important that you – with emphasis and charisma – stress what the audience has heard and learned from your presentation. Being aware of the Audience Never overestimate your audience’s knowledge and never underestimate their intelligence! When you make a presentation of part of the seminar’s curriculum or of your own report, you should be aware that the audience’s reading and qualifications are dif-

14 fused. Some have carefully studied the material while others just show up. But they will always be offended if being talked down to. The middle road is in this case the most recommendable. Make sure that the audience gets the main points from the texts and the main arguments, but do not try to give a thorough report of all the points and arguments. You will never have the time and the result will be that neither you nor the audience will find out what your presentation has been about. In general this is also true when you make a presentation for an oral examination. Your evaluators will want to hear you saying what they already know. But in addition they want you to add to this you own reflections, analysis and considerations! Being the audience It takes two to tango – and an active audience is important in a good presentation. If the audience looks hostile, the presenter does not perform as well as if the audience looks friendly. So keep this in mind when you are the audience. If you look friendly and encouraging – even if the presentation lacks content and insight – this will help the presenter. You may then in the discussion question the content and challenge the insight – that is what discussions are for. But help the presenter through and accept that being nervous is fully legitimate. Some technical advice Use figures and tables that are relatively simple and can be explained in full within

a reasonable amount of time. Always remove a figure or a table when you have finished using it – otherwise the audience will keep studying it – instead of listening to what is being said.

15 Academic integrity and professional ethics – also a ‘must’ for students of political science by Jørgen Elklit, professor at the Department Academic integrity and professional ethics’ may sound somewhat formal but it concerns some essential basic problems in academic work. In any circumstances, therefore, the topic is of crucial importance in connection with seminar assignments and master level theses in all university studies, including political science. The core of the question about academic integrity is that we must be able to have confidence when concrete analyses and investigations are reported, when lines of procedure are described, methodical considerations are presented, and when conclusions are arrived at. If we cannot be certain that what is presented in an article or a seminar paper is ‘right’ and correct and completely documented, how then may we be able to know whether it is worth taking seriously? This goes for serious scientific articles and theses (including PhD dissertations), student assignments at all levels, master level theses, and anything else with an ambition of being taken seriously in an academic connection. If one cannot be certain that the claimed experiments (analyses, tests) have actually been carried out, and that the results were

as reported, or that the correlation coefficient was as reported, and that the stated response rate corresponds with the actual attainment, where would we be then? In that case one would have to go back and repeat every investigation and analysis because nothing could any longer be taken for granted. Then everything would collapse because the academic conversation would be rendered impossible. Establishment of ‘cheating’ in analyses and experiments, as well as in reports and assignments, is a serious matter and the sanctions are usually exclusion from academic accept and cooperation (cf. also ‘Rules about disciplinary provisions’ in the university regulations).

The core of the question about academic integrity is that we must be able to have confidence.

About using the work of others All university studies and all academic work is built upon being able to have confidence in earlier research (some of which may of course be out dated), and hence that one may build on the results of others. Cumulativity (i.e. building upon others’ work and thus getting ahead) is both a prerequisite for academic work and a characteristic of it. Consequently, you must be honest and give precise account of what it is you are

16 building upon, so that it does not seem as if you are going to take credit for the accomplishment of others. There are two reasons why you must state what you are building upon: 1) a professional one - i.e. it is important to demonstrate the development of the argument, earlier argumentation and writings about the topic; and a moral one – i.e. you do not represent something as you own accomplishment when it is actually the work of others. However, if you state the necessary references, it is absolutely fine and also quite necessary to build upon the results of others be they published in recognised, academic journals, in books that may be unprocurable, or in the seminar assignments or master level theses of your fellow students. But you can only make use of others’ work if you can be confident that it is ‘right’. Thus in the academic community you are quite dependent on each other. This is why the use of notes and references is a special characteristic of academic and serious professional work, and an indication that you do not cheat and take the credit for the accomplishment of others. Hence, you must carry out a regular search of literature (employing all forms of bibliographical resources) to make your use of previous literature as adequately and honest as possible. Accordingly, there is nothing wrong in building upon the work of others that you trust, if you state clearly and unmistakably

(i.e. exhaustively and bibliographically correct, cf. above text on how to make references) what it is you are building upon, no matter whether you agree with him/her or because you wish to dissociate yourself from his/her use of theory, methods, data or whatever. The use of notes and references is a special characteristic of academic and serious professional work.

To enable control of your use of others’ work (also in assignments), references must be precise and enable easy location of what you are referring to. It means that you must state the particular pages (tables, figures, notes etc.) you are building upon. If your reference is direct (i.e. a direct copy because it is formulated better that you would otherwise have been able to) you must insert quotation marks (‘……’) or other forms of typographical marking so that it does not look as if you are going to take credit (or responsibility) for the piece of text in question. During the reading process, it is important to carefully mark quotations etc. because otherwise it is easy to forget that the quotation was from somebody else. And then it is similarly easy to get to use it as your own – especially if it sounds good and seems convincing. If you do not quote word-for-word but rephrases and possibly paraphrases the text,

17 you must indicate that this is what you have done. By way of example you could say something like this: ‘the following section builds considerably on pp xx-yy in NN’s book since it discusses the question better than for example MM or ZZ’. Evidently, saying something like that of course presupposes knowledge of at least some of the writers who have treated the topic in question – otherwise the formulation is dishonest, a violation of accepted norms – since you are actually claiming to have compared NN’s book and results with MM and ZZ who have treated the topic as well. And if this is not the case, then the formulation gives a dishonest picture of what you have actually done and of the reliability of your statement. Professional ethics Professional ethical problems of the kind you meet within for example medicine are not present within the social sciences, or at least they are of another nature. However, one problem you should pay attention to concerns identifying information about individuals, and possibly details that he/she does not wish to bring forward. One example is questionnaire surveys or analyses based on public statistics where your cross tabulation may be so exhaustive that you will know who you are dealing with; e.g. by certain combinations of gender, age, residence, education, profession etc. Information to that degree of detail is

not required (and is usually also professionally uninteresting). Similarly, if you have agreed with the interviewees that you will make them appear unidentifiable then you must keep your promise. You cannot promise anonymity and then write about what for example a former Social Democratic Minister for Transport, who was also political spokesman, would think about some internal issue in the parliamentary party, which he said something about trusting that it would not be reported so that he could be identified. That type of breach of confidence is not just morally unacceptable in relation to the interviewee concerned, it also has repercussions on other researchers’ and students’ possibilities for accessing centrally placed sources and obtaining necessary information; possibly about entirely different topics. Conclusion Academic integrity and professional ethics is not just a question about not cheating and not presenting insufficiently thoughtout results so you can identify individuals who had been promised anonymity. It is also about easing the control of your own effort by stating all necessary references so that others may easily control what you must be credited for and what is the work of others. As simple as that! At the same time this approach characterises regular, acceptable practice within all types of academic work, including the student level.

18 Part 2 – Teaching from three different perspectives Seminars as learning environments – the framework for research-based teaching by Torben K. Jensen, Centre for Learning and Education, Aarhus University Teaching at the master level of political science usually takes place as seminars with a comparatively small number of students. Teaching could be organised in a lot of different ways implying that seminar teaching is based on deliberate, educational choices. Generally speaking, if teaching is supposed to support and optimise the student’s learning and their motivation to learn, knowing the educational background for the chosen teaching method is important. In the following I shall explain the educational reasons to seminar teaching at master level and give some advice on how to make the most of seminar teaching.

Teaching must support and optimise students’ learning and motivation

Seminar teaching – educational choices In formal and general terms, the seminar method at the master level education is applied because it has proven an effective and flexible framework for research based

teaching and for the students’ ability to pick up knowledge, skills, and competences. The Department (the research environment) considers acquisition of such abilities important also in the light of meeting labour market demands. In more concrete terms, the idea with seminar teaching has been to provide opportunity for free choice of courses, specialisation, immersion, meeting active researchers, research-like teaching, in-depth learning, Master’s Thesis preparation, and flexibility. Free choice of courses At the bachelor programme, we emphasise the importance of common basic module teaching with matching core curriculum laid down by the Board of Studies. In contrast, at the master level we emphasise that the seminar teaching provides a free choice in the selection of subjects, topics, lecturers, examination- and teaching methods. We seek to respect the students’ various educational interests. Furthermore, options and student participation alone are motivating and activating approaches and contribute to better and funnier teaching. Ideally speaking, you sign up for a seminar out of educational interest and motivation to discuss and study a subject in common cause. Actually this is the definition of a seminar. Specialisation Free choices provide the opportunity for a certain specialisation or ‘colouring’ of your own education. Even if you do not always

19 get to participate in the seminars with highest priority, there is usually good possibilities to pursue you own educational interest or leitmotif across the subjects. If for example you are interested in equal rights, international issues, power theory, quantitative method, decision processes, China, or something completely different, you will often find that papers, presentations and choice of literature to a certain degree may be considered from your approach no matter which subject the seminar is offered through. Immersion Furthermore, the seminar is conceived as an opportunity to immerse oneself in a topic but now with a point of departure in the acquired knowledge about theory, empiricism, and method which was learned through profound introductions of the subjects at the bachelor level. Seminar teaching may take a lot for granted and does not start at the bottom. From that point of view there is progression from bachelor level to seminar teaching at master level. Meeting active researchers Seminars are offered by the academic staff at the Department implying that teaching is headed by active researchers within the field of study. Thus, most recent knowledge can form part of the teaching all the time which is one of the defining characteristics of research based teaching. From a teaching perspective, the lecturers’ research ac-

tivities may be considered continuous supplementary training. The Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, has a high ranking among research institutions of political science and the lecturers are well-integrated in international research networks which also spill over into the teaching at our Department. In practice, the seminar offer at the Department (the curriculum) is precisely characterised by a continuous renewal of topics based on the newest literature and research in the fields of study. Consequently, seminar teaching provides the students with opportunity to meet and directly discuss professional problems with experts within a variety of topics. Research-based teaching Research based teaching is not defined alone by teaching handled by an active researcher. An often overlooked but at least equally important characteristic is that regular research based teaching must be research-like. A university education must introduce the students to the newest knowledge at all times but a university education must also teach the students to produce knowledge. The hallmark of university educations is that students learn to apply theories and methods with regard to research, and that they learn about their subject by using those tools. Good research based teaching is thus characterised as follows:

20 1)

2)

3) 4) 5)

6)

working with the primary subjectmatter, sources, and data and not just working with textbooks and already formulated theories; central professional activities and methods are being employed in teaching rather than just being referred to; students feel invited to participate actively in a professional community; students receive feedback in working and writing with regard to research; students get opportunity to apply theories and methods to new problems; students get opportunity to participate in authentic research projects.

The argument is that students must learn to work with regard to research, not because all of them should be researchers but because all of them in their future job functions in the information society must: 1) be able to handle knowledge skilfully, i.e. be able to decide when and to what degree conclusions are well-founded; 2) be able to keep up their knowledge; 3) be able to change; and 4) be able to contribute to changes in the organisation. Establishing research-like teaching is the main argument for seminar teaching and for maintaining classes under 20 students! Obviously it is annoying not to be enrolled at the seminar of one’s first choice but there are no indications of a close connection between the topics/the contents of the

seminars and master’s theses and future job possibilities. In that sense it does not matter much being enrolled at the most popular seminars. In contrast it is crucial to have solid analytical abilities which can only be trained by delivering solid analyses. In-depth learning The aim of carrying out research-like teaching may also be formulated in technical terms of learning targets for seminar teaching. Usually the curriculum clearly states the contents of seminars (books/articles/pages to read, theories/problems/works to go through). The lecturers usually also give a short justification of why a particular topic is worth dealing with. However, early in the teaching course it is important to discuss not simply the syllabus to go through but also what seminar participants are expected to be able to do with the subject matter after 15 weeks of effort. In simple terms: it is not enough to delimit a seminar to deal with e.g. recent power theories. It is important to discuss what you as a student is supposed to be able to do with the new power theories: are you expected to learn by heart what the lecturer said about the theories or what the articles said? Are you expected to give an account of the theories and sum up the arguments in your own words? Are you expected to give a more demanding analysis of the theories e.g. by discussing similarities and differences, and/or strengths and weaknesses, or beginning to identify possi-

21 ble answers to reasons for and effects of different incidents and events? Or is the objective to be able to theorise (i.e. being able to estimate whether the discussed theories about power are supporting, balancing, modifying, criticising or possibly falsifying other theory formations about power, democracy, representation etc.). Or is it rather to be able to reflect (i.e. to estimate to what degree academic theoretic arguments claiming that new knowledge is produced have been fulfilled) and to be able to apply acquired knowledge in the analysis of concrete social events, phenomena, and cases? Furthermore it is important to discuss which skills the students are expected to acquire or train at which level.

the SOLO taxonomy is another and more precise way of describing what characterises research based teaching. For several reasons it is important that lecturer and students at an early stage discuss and coordinate expectations and level of ambition and agree on the learning targets:

The original objective of research based university educations is in-depth learning, i.e. that the students become increasingly familiar with the professional argumentation of the subject and become competent participants in the professional debate. Figure one below gives examples of a more systematic usage for learning targets regarding knowledge and skills in a course of research based teaching.

Master’s Thesis preparation Seminar teaching is also conceived as a means to prepare the students for writing the Master’s Thesis. Many seminars are carried out as assignment seminars where at first the participants read themselves into the subject matter, and then they choose a problem to give further analysis and to report on through a home assignment (which will receive a mark). The lecturer and fellow students will give tutorials and feedback on synopsis and assignments. Having written a number of seminar assignments, writing the Master’s Thesis basically means to do something well-known only in a slightly larger format.

As a principal rule, the objective for seminar teaching at master level at the Department is -to get a high ranking in the SOLO (Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes) taxonomy. Behind the SOLO taxonomy’s description of the level at which you can master a subject the research process faintly appears. A High ranking in

1) students are motivated by knowledge about the objective of their efforts; 2) choosing appropriate examinationand teaching methods and prioritising activities provides a far better grounding; 3) this grounding provides the basis for the awarding of marks where the mark is an expression of the ‘degree of realisation of the learning target’.

22 Figure 1. Taxonomies for learning targets SOLO – Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes In-depth learning Abstract/progressive Apply (on unknown case), examine, criticize, test, argue, predict, assess, discuss Reflect (theoretical scientific basis for knowledge) Theorize, generalize, hypothesize (support, balance, modify, criticize known theory)

Relational/related Analyze compare, relate, explain (similarities-differences, strengths-weaknesses, cause-effect)

Multistructural/complex summarize describe

Structural/simple list paraphrase, summarize identify, recognize memorize

Prestructural: misses point

Surface learning

Skills High level skills - Openness to changes of own ideas and perception - Interpretation and assessment of evidence - Arguing for and substantiating own research results - Choosing and assessing (own) research design

Basic skills - Communication: • written presentation of professional problems • oral presentation of professional problems • mastering a foreign language - Practical (research) skills: collection and analysis of data (interview technique, statistical analysis etc.) - Bibliographical skills - Organisation of own work (study technique, work discipline) - ...

23 Flexibility The seminar method is a very flexible framework for teaching, and at the Department seminar teaching is carried out in numerous ways. The academic regulations allow for a number of different examination methods and does not tie-down choices of teaching methods. Within the framework of the 10 ECTS and naturally certain practical considerations, lecturer and student may agree upon any choice of method. The teaching course may be constructed as a package of many different teaching methods: lectures; going through subject-matter with fellow students; case-teaching; discussion based teaching; problem based learning; consultancy tasks; research projects. Seminars may be planned with a point of departure in the approx. 30 contact hours: when to go through and discuss which subject-matter? Or the seminar may be devised with point of departure in the students’ work: what must take place during contact hours to ensure that the students get the most out of their 280 hours of working with the subject-matter? Or the seminar may be planned from a research logic model: with approx. 4,600 man-hours at our disposal, what can 20 participants do of collective research work?

Top seminars come close to being a community of individuals engaged in evidently essential activities with a high level of enthusiasm and seriousness.

Seminar teaching – advice for the students First piece of advice: Even if you will only have a few contact-hours in your timetable (three seminars = six contact hours), the master level education is a full-time study requiring full-time work. Actually, there is a connection between ECTS and working hours. In round figures, the calculation goes as follows: 60 ECTS (a year of study) correspond to 1,680 hours (a year of work). One ECTS corresponds to 28 hours of work and hence a seminar of 10 ECTS corresponds to approx. 280 hours (including everything also examination). During the 15 weeks of teaching, it is reasonable to expect that the seminar participants put in 10-15 hours of work a week per seminar. In other words: do plan your time considering that the master level education is a full-time study. Second piece of advice: In consequence of the few contact-hours in your timetable, the majority of the learning work happens outside sessions. Usually it is beneficial to establish a working partnership with one or several fellow students attending the seminar. Third piece of advice: Always attend the first session where the objective of the seminar is being discussed. Most lecturers are open to ideas and wishes, and so it is often possible to have an influence on the form of the seminar. Considering you input in advance is a good idea. Do contribute to a thorough discussion of the connection between learning targets, examination and teaching methods. As already mentioned,

24 getting an impression about the objective of your work is positive and motivating. Besides, without learning targets it will be difficult to assess the use of various teaching and learning activities and to determine priorities for your activities. Finally the latest notice on rewarding marks (as of 1 September 2007) defines the mark as the degree of realisation of the objectives. Accordingly, every subject must have clearly defined learning targets in writing. The learning targets are simply the basis for awarding marks. Fourth piece of advice: Be an active participant. The value of the seminars as a framework for learning depends (almost) as much on the students as on the lecturers. The precondition for good seminars is that everybody contributes actively to the elucidation of the topic. Top seminars come close to being ‘a community of individuals engaged in evidently essential activities with a high level of enthusiasm and seriousness’. This type of seminar is exceptional but a little less may meet the case as well. The worst seminars are stripped from activity and inspiration and can be terribly boring with low learning benefit. Small contribution correlates more or less with little learning but it is also theft from the community. Non-active lecturing and stodgy presentations is not a good way of educating small classes. Remember that everyone in the session can take the initiative to discuss whether the time spent together is used appropriately.

25 The lecturer’s perspective by Christoffer Green-Pedersen, professor at the Department With this contribution I wish to present a lecturer’s considerations when organising a seminar. A successful seminar is characterised by a strong professional dialogue between lecturer and students and amongst the students. As a lecturer you have an influence on the social relations but you cannot control them and that makes seminar teaching a challenging task. You may experience sessions running smoothly with high level discussions and sessions where you present a well-prepared topic which should result in a good discussion and for no apparent reason it all comes to nothing. The character of seminar teaching implies that there is no magic formula for a successful seminar. The topic of the seminar and the curriculum, the students, the lecturer, and finally the examination method must form a synthesis and for that there is no simple solution. Conversely, of course as a lecturer you also gain experience on how to influence the four elements and thereby increase the chances of making everything form a synthesis. A successful seminar is characterised by a strong professional dialogue between lecturer and students and amongst the students.

The students represent the element over which you have the least control, and at the same time it is the most important element. However, as matters stand the students are the ones who should benefit from teaching primarily. The main challenge as a lecturer is to make the students participate actively in the professional discussions as a group instead of just a few active students. Sometimes it happens all by itself but my experience is also that to a high degree it can and should be promoted through the organisation of the seminar teaching. A big issue in this context is the use of student presentations as introduction to discussions during sessions. That model has inherent risks which to my knowledge almost every lecturer at the Department has encountered. The group of students with responsibility for the presentation of the week spends days on the presentation which is going to take twice the planned time leaving only little time for questions and practically no time for discussion. The problem with this type of presentation is the enormous asymmetry between the level of preparation and the rest. Students get the impression that active seminar participation means doing one presentation and that is it. Bad experience with presentations often leads to avoiding it. Nevertheless, there are good reasons to try one’s hand at the presentation model anyway. First of all, a good presentation is a good start of a discussion. If the introductory speakers are able to sum up the essential

26 points of the texts in 10-15 minutes and raise a number of relevant questions for discussion, we have a good basis for further discussion. Second, being able to do a good presentation in short time is an essential competence which the education must promote. No matter what you will be doing after the degree, sometimes you will be asked to work through a large body of information in a short time and to present the main points in short for an impatient audience. This is not a situation where you spend twice the allotted time without getting at the essential points. From my own seminars I have good experience with a model combining presentation with group work. The students are put into groups of three to four participants who will meet before each session to discuss the curriculum and make a short presentation for discussion. I then pick a group of students at random who will actually perform their presentation in front of their peers. This method may seem overwhelming to some students but it is crucial to clear up the expectations for the presentations. The intention is for the students to meet a few hours before contact hour to discuss the text and sum up their discussion in a presentation. In that way the students come to work under pressure of time forcing them to focus on the most essential points. At the same time we now have a clear symmetry between level of preparation amongst the seminar participants which will further dis-

cussion during sessions. In addition, there is now time for other groups to raise some points for discussion that they have treated during preparation. A weakness of this method may be that some groups will be running out of time and thus make very unstructured presentations. Here it is important to make the students understand that they must organise their work so that the preparation can be done in two hours. Group work offers the advantage that the students get to know each other better, and hence they feel more free to take part in discussions. One of the problems with seminar teaching is precisely that the students do not know each other very well and some may thus take up a reserved attitude to take part in discussions. It goes without saying that you are in control of the lecturer role but the real question is which role to play. How much teaching as lectures should you do and how much should you intervene in the seminar discussions? As a lecturer you of course possess considerable professional competences which should play an essential role, and it is my experience that to a large extent the students ask for it. Conversely, it is evident that as a lecturer you can quickly sit on a session and thus put down the students’ own struggle with the subject-matter and prevent them from advancing in their indepth learning process.

27 In my experience a thorough introduction to the seminar and attempts at summing up discussions are some of the forms of teaching with the best outcome. The question about controlling discussions is more complex. In my capacity as a lecturer I always have a few points for discussion which I try to make sure we get around to during sessions. Furthermore, I try to pose questions which may lead the discussion in other directions, if I think it has gone in an unproductive direction. Should this attempt succeed, the students hardly realise the control which has actually taken place. As regards material the seminars differ enormously. Sometimes a seminar is offered on a topic with a tremendous amount of literature and the task of giving a survey of the literature is the essential aspect. Other times almost all relevant material can be dealt with at the seminar. In my experience it is crucial that you actually do present the curriculum for the students and make them aware of its strengths and weaknesses; not least if they must deal with texts which may be difficult to understand or requires reading of a lot of pages to get at few points. What is important here is that everybody realises why the material has been included. The seminar form as such is the least significant element. What matters is the difference between home assignments and other examination methods. To my knowledge the students are widely experienced in various examination methods whereas

written assignments often give them a lot of trouble. The biggest problem about seminar assignments is actually quite simple: you get started too late. A late start gives problems in collecting material, reduces your possibilities for effective use of supervisor, and it often means that you get a limited benefit from synopsis and feedback sessions. Thus you miss out on a fantastic opportunity of having a lot of competent people reading and commenting on your text. There are probably a number of reasons why the students get started too late, but in my experience early synopsis feedback, a continued discussion about topics in connection with sessions may speed up the process. Most importantly however, the seminar should be characterised by an open and constructive atmosphere between lecturer and students. Lecturers must pick up signals from the students, but it is equally important that the students are engaged and that they will comment on things that do not work before the evaluations. Evaluations can be very useful for the lecturer but does not help the students who have been attending seminar sessions.

Most importantly however, the seminar should be characterised by an open and constructive atmosphere between lecturer and students.

28 The students’ perspective on learning and seminar participation by Anne Sofie Kjær Jacobsen and Maiken Hjortbak, MA’s in political science, former students at the Department With this contribution, we would like to pass on our experiences as students with learning on master level seminars. Our experience is partly from the master level education at the Department of Political Science and partly from study visits outside the Department and abroad. Maiken has studied political communication and management at Copenhagen Business School while Anne Sofie has studied public management and health care policy at the London School of Economics, UK. From our point of view, learning is a process about obtaining general and specific competences in interaction with lecturer and fellow students. We shall focus on three aspects of seminar participation: preparation; participation in the teaching; and examination preparation. The purpose is to give some suggestions on how you as a student may advance the learning process in connection with seminar participation. Seminar preparation Basically of course it is an advantage to the learning process that you read the curriculum. The lecturer has chosen the texts because they contain essential points – not to

pester the students or simply to fill out the curriculum requirements. However, to our experience sporadic, yellow highlighting in the curriculum is rarely a good indicator as to how much you actually understood from a text. It is about active reading, i.e. to relate critically to the argumentation of the text which may be done by employing the instructions for reading. The instructions for reading may be more or less relevant in connection with the actual process of reading the text but in general it is a useful tool when preparing for sessions. Giving a detailed summary of a text is quite easy, but disclosing the essential points in your own words that is what it is all about.

Giving a detailed summary of a text is quite easy, but disclosing the essential points in your own words that is what it is all about.

Ideally speaking, every seminar participant has read and has taken a position on the curriculum for each session. However, it is no secret that busy periods in other subjects and at home makes it difficult to be wellprepared each time. Nevertheless, we believe that a little – but focused – preparation is better than none at all. One hour of focused reading is better than giving up when thinking of the pile of texts to read. Participating in teaching Participating in teaching is central for learning during a seminar. Too often, seminars

29 Instructions for reading

Focus

Problem definition in the text?

Background

Theoretical frame of reference in the text?

Results

Essential points in the text?

Criticism

Argument of the text: - How is the connection between problem definition and choice of theory? choice of empirical laboratory? Perspective: -

Could the problem definition of the text be highlighted through other theoretical perspectives? How would this influence on the conclusions?

-

How do results of the analysis relate to results of other studies of a similar problem definition?

-

How does the text relate to other texts in the seminar curriculum or other texts you have read during your study?

end up with a few students participating actively, possibly because the other seminar participants are not certain that their questions and comments are sufficiently ‘smart’ to be accepted. It is a myth that students are expected to understand the entire curriculum of the day when they appear for teaching. Here it should be noted that sessions are not examinations but rather fora for discussion and clarification of questions.

Participating in teaching is not an examination but a possibility to clarify and discuss nuances and perspectives of the curriculum.

By way of example, it is quite all right to express one’s difficulties in understanding an argument or a text – you are definitely not the only one with that experience. Furthermore questions may form the basis for a very good discussion of the topic to the benefit of all participants. The best seminars are the ones where questions are put by other participants than the two ‘wise guys’ on the front row. Student presentations also deserve our comments since both of us have experienced this method of active participation to be problematic from a learning perspective. It is a frequent misunderstanding that the purpose of the presentations is to im-

30 press the lecturer. The best student presentations are primarily directed to the fellow students, moving beyond the texts, thinking problem-centered and across texts. Put differently, good presentations introduce new angles and ideas and hence open up for subsequent discussion which may contribute to the learning at the seminar. Examination preparation In our experience, examination preparation at the end of the semester is considerably facilitated if the reading is adjusted to the examination method of the seminar; i.e. examination preparation begins when seminar teaching begins.

Examination preparation begins when seminar teaching begins.

In general you may say that there are two types of examination. By one examination type you actively choose a problem definition (oral examination with synopsis and home assignment), by the other type you must react to an already fixed problem definition (written and oral examination without synopsis and a 7-days home assignment). The two types of examination have different requirements of curriculum knowledge. Consequently it is practical to adjust the reading to the examination method.

Adjusting reading method to examination method is advantageous.

By examinations with demands about an independent preparation of a problem definition, it is advantageous to read with a problem-based focus. Here you should identify strengths and weaknesses in arguments, think creatively, and collect inspiration to formulation of a problem definition which may contribute to the existing literature in the field. In this connection the curriculum may be considered as a basis to generate ideas. Thus by this examination method, it may be beneficial to prioritise the curriculum – it is better to read the central texts critically than to read all texts extensively. When reading for seminars where the examination method implies that the student must relate to a fixed problem definition, it is better to read with a ‘point focus’; e.g. based on the above instructions for reading. It may be very useful to group the texts according to topics and main points to avoid a sense of confusion. Thereby points are clarified at the same time as differences and similarities between arguments and approaches may be discovered. Especially by this type of examination it is advantageous to read as many texts as possible and at the same time make a few (reflecting) notes about each text.

31 By both methods of examination you may profit from contact with your peers at the seminar or with fellow students. You often learn a lot more through a discussion with fellow students than over the fifth cup of coffee in the reading room. Accordingly time has often been allotted at the seminar to discuss synopsis and possible draft assignments. This is an obvious forum to learn about the workmanship of doing an assignment and about the topic of the seminar. However, learning is completely dependent on the approach of the student. A constructive approach to the discussion of presentations done by others implies that you make an effort to contribute with useful suggestions to improvements of the draft argument. By the discussion of your own presentation it is essential to receive the criticism and avoiding the defensive. It is about receiving the comments you believe are useful. The role of the lecturer The lecturer plays an essential role for the students’ learning, and as students we have an effect on this role. By way of example we found it useful when, as conclusion of each session, the lecturer made a short presentation of the curriculum for the coming week and commented on the underlying thought of the chosen texts. This approach gives a good basis for the preparation irrespective of whether you have time to read the entire curriculum or is forced to prioritise between different parts of the material. Usually, the lecturers are open to such a request.

Don’t be afraid to make demands on the lecturer – most lecturers appreciate suggestions from engaged students.

Those were our experiences with learning at the master level seminars. We hope our reflections may help you to get the most of your seminars!

32 Student counsellors The Student Counsellors at the Department of Political Science are here to guide you, give advice, and to serve as a link between the students and the administration. We are four Student Counsellors. We are all students at the Department, but as Counsellors we are assigned to the rules of professional secrecy. This means that you can be sure that whatever you tell us, it will not be passed on to the administration, your fellow students, or anybody else. Come and talk with us if you have any kind of questions or problems during your stay concerning not getting used to the way we study in Denmark, or doubts about your seminar, your exam or the like, personal problems, or other questions. Our office is situated next to the Board of Studies, Building 1331, office 101. You are always welcome to come by during opening hours. You do not need a reservation. You can also call us or send us an e-mail.

You may contact us on weekdays during opening hours from 11 am to 2 pm, by telephone 8942 1267 from 10 am to 11 am, or by e-mail: [email protected]

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IFS K A Department of Political Science, Aarhus University

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE Faculty of Social Sciences Aarhus University Bartholins Allé 7 DK-8000 Aarhus C Denmark

Tel +45 8942 1111 E-mail [email protected] Fax +45 8613 9839 Website www.ps.au.dk/en