Seminar I

Code:

PDMD018

Acronym:

SEM I

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Any scientific area

Instance: 2024/2025 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Web Page:	https://moodle2425.up.pt/course/view.php?id=4077
Responsible unit:	Department of Informatics Engineering
Course/CS Responsible:	Doctoral Program in Digital Media

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
PDMD	5	Syllabus since 2009/2010	1	-	7,5	36	202,5

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

The main objective of this course is to introduce students to the basic research tools, allowing them to:

• Understand the different steps and dimensions that typically integrate an academic research work
• Correctly select bibliographic sources in order to have a deep understanding of a given literature
• Identify good practices on research and analyze critically specific research projects
• Identify state-of-the-art research lines in the main fields of the Doctoral Programme in Digital Media
• Identify ethical issues arising in the context of the research activity
• Enhance skills to communicate a research proposal in an effective way.

In addition, the course also intends to endow students with basic entrepreneurship skills. To this end, the course presents basic (economic and business) tools and concepts, allowing students to apply them in specific problems related to business model design.

Learning outcomes and competences

This course intends to create a dynamic of exploration of the most relevant scientific areas for the students of each academic year, promoting their involvement in the adequate preparation of their own research projects.

The course focuses also on an introduction to the research process, looking at the whole development process of the doctoral thesis with the future perspectives of exploring the results. The course also fosters the characterization of the socio-economic value of the thesis in order to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. To this end, the syllabus includes as well the presentation of basic economics and business concepts, which allow students to understand the major blocks of a simple business model and evaluate the financial-economic viability of a specific business or project.

Working method

Presencial

Program

• Introduction and motivation


• Basic structure of a research project


• Basic mechanisms and tools for scientific writing


• Bibliography Selection Strategies


• Research methodologies: general vision and comparative analysis of diferente methodologial options in the field of Digital Media (online communities etnography. Design-based research, correlational studies and grounded theory)


• Characterization of different research approaches


• Plagiarism and other ethical considerations in scientific research


• Entrepreneurship: conceptual analysis


• Business Model Design: Business Model Canvas applied to Digital Media Industries.

Mandatory literature

Denis McQuail; Mass Communication Theory, 2010

Complementary Bibliography

Neuendorf, K.; The Content Analysis Guidebook, 2002
Mayring, P; Qualitative content analysis. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum Social Research, 2003

Teaching methods and learning activities

The teaching methods in this curricular unit are based on an hybrid approach that combines:

-Theoretical lectures and group dynamics;

- Invited seminars lectured by researchers and practitioners with a relevant activity in the field of Digital Media;

- Oral presentations by the students in the class.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Participação presencial	10,00
Trabalho prático ou de projeto	90,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Apresentação/discussão de um trabalho científico	8,00
Frequência das aulas	42,00
Trabalho de investigação	112,00
Trabalho escrito	40,00
Total:	202,00

Eligibility for exams

Frequency requirements: 75% of class attendance and delivery of two individual essays with final oral presentation.

Calculation formula of final grade

Evaluation rule: Final work 90% (Essay 1 (45%)+Essay 2 (45%))+Class attendance 10%