UCL - Study Skills Seminar in Sociology

[SOCA1125]

[30h + 15h] 5 credits

Teacher(s): Luc Courtois(supplée Michel Dorban), Michel Dorban, Olivier Servais

Language: French

Level: First

Aims
Main themes
Content and teaching methods
Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Aims

The aim of this seminar is to equip students with study skills for university, using concrete questions within a subject of their own choosing. Students will come to master the basic skills they need for their university work: using bibliographic references, drawing up critical summaries, using reference conventions, writing skills etc. At the same time, the aim is to make students aware of the concrete issues involved in research, again working within a subject domain of their own choosing. The seminar is conducted in a spirit of openness and will help students to identify the research tools used within their own subject area, in relation to methods used in other subjects taught within the Faculty.

Main themes

Part 1: (for all Bachelors' courses) 15 hours of lectures (15h x 5 lecturers = 75h)
- Presentation of information sources (written, oral, visual, figures)
- Introduction to research tools (library, web, etc.)
- Definition of the rules of critical analysis and how to apply them
- Formalisation of methods of scientific reasoning
Part 2 : 15 hours of presentations in large groups (15h x 10 teachers and supervisors = 150h)
- Application of these principles and methods to a subject of general interest chosen by degree course (eg.: globalisation, immigration, work and unemployment, European construction)
- Presentation of the stages involved in a piece of research
- Definition of the subject, the objectives, the methods, relevant information sources
- Data compilation and handling
- Analysis
Part 3 : 15 hours (illustration through practical work)
These general topics are divided into a number of specific sub-topics (1 topic per sub-group of 30 students) and lead to practical project work supervised by assistants (+ groups of 30 students)
- Choice of an individual sub-topic
- Delimitation of the object of study
- Primary Analysis and explanation
- Development of a critical approach and the capacity to formalize reasoning
- Communication of results
Completion of a piece of personal work related to students' degree course, using an approach specific to the subject area chosen.

Content and teaching methods

The seminar is given in the form of:
- Lectures (presentation of a scientific approach, definition of the concepts, criticism of the sources, etc.)
- Sessions involving active student participation (presentation of a research project, illustration using concrete examples, suggestions as to which methodologies and theories to use and how to use them)
- The seminar ends with each student completing a piece of personal research.
- It will draw on the most appropriate teaching methods (CD-ROM, video, etc.) and will be conducted in close cooperation with the Pedagogy and Multimedia Institute

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Evaluation: continuous evaluation and evaluation of personal work