Project Seminar

Code:

MSIGOT026

Acronym:

S_P

Instance: 2015/2016 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Geography
Course/CS Responsible:	Masters in Geographical Information Systems and Spatial Planning

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MRCOT	19	MRCOT - Study Plan	1	-	6	-
MSIGOT	26	MSIGOT - Study Plan	1	-	6	-

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

This UC aims to develop knowledge and skills to enable students to construct a research project. Initially, practicing scientific literature search in the main scientific portals, exploiting its potential, the metrics they use and the advantages of peer-reviewed scientific literature.
In a practical way, it is explained the formal organization rules, of structuring and writing reports and articles. Using EndNote, it is exemplified the advantage of using software tools dedicated to research, creation of bibliographic databases and automatic edition of bibliography.
The knowledge, techniques and methodologies taught in the early sessions, are then applied and developed by the students in the elaboration of their online CV and in the preparation of their individual research project, which will guide their work in the 2nd year of the master course

Learning outcomes and competences

At the end of this UC it is expected that students are able to:
1. Perform specific searches of scientific literature for a research project.
2. Use the main websites that classify and publish scientific literature: ISI, Scopus and Google Scholar.
3. Understand the process of scientific peer review and the usefulness of the Journal of Citation Reports.
4. Interpret and critically evaluate scientific papers.
5. Know the components and the construction phases of a research project.
6. Apply the conceptual, formal and operational expertise in the development of a research project.
7. Build a curriculum vitae using a free web platform.

Working method

Presencial

Program

1. The portals of scientific research literature: ISI, Scopus and Google Scholar.
2. Scientific journals and the process of peer review.
3. The impact factor of scientific journals and the Journal of Citation Reports.
4. Considerations about the construction of scientific articles and recomendations for their formulation and development.
5. Formal rules to organize, structuring and drafting a report and a dissertation.
6. The use of Endnote for bibliographic research and automatic editing of bibliography.
7. The construction of a curriculum vitae by creating a personal site on the Weebly platform.
8. Construction of a Individual Search Matrix:  goals, phases and contents.
9. Construction of a Research Individual Project.

Mandatory literature

Margaret Cargill and Patrick O’Connor; Writing scientific research articles : strategy and steps, John Wiley & Sons, 2009. ISBN: 978-1-4051-8619-3
MALCOLM S. FIELD; Journal of Cave and Karst Studies Listing in the Journal of Citation Report: What Does it Mean?, ournal of Cave and Karst Studies, 2008
Daniel C. Feldman; The Devil is in the Details: Converting Good Research into Publishable Articles,, Journal of Management, 2004
F. Guzzetti; A case of plagiarism, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 2009
James E. Mauch & Namgi Park; Guide to the Successful Thesis and Dissertation, MARCEL DEKKER, INC., 2003. ISBN: 0-8247-4288-5
Bruce A. Thyer.; Preparing research articles, Oxford University Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-19-532337-5

Complementary Bibliography

Thomson Corporation; EndNote: User´'s Guide, Thomson Corporation, 2007

Teaching methods and learning activities

The UC is divided into three types of sessions:
1. Theoretical and practical, to present the theoretical concepts, to practice search in the scientific literature portals, with practical exercises apply the formatting and structuring rules of academic work, to use Endnote and build an CV online.
2. Sessions with guests: presentation session of individual research projects of the previous year, with subsequent exchange of ideas; presentation session of the scientific themes developed by teachers of the Department of Geography, followed by a debate.
3. Tutorials, aimed to help the preparation of their individual online CV, and to monitoring the construction of individual search matrix and the individual research project.

Software

EndNote

keywords

Humanities

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Teste	30,00
Trabalho escrito	50,00
Trabalho laboratorial	20,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	48,00
Frequência das aulas	54,00
Trabalho de investigação	40,00
Trabalho laboratorial	20,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

Attendance at 75% of classes.

Calculation formula of final grade

The evaluation consists of three elements:
test (30%) + online individual CV (20%) + individual project (50%)

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

According to FLUP rules.

Classification improvement

To set with the students during the first session.