Learning outcome

A candidate who has passed the course will have a learning outcome in the form of acquired knowledge, skills, and general competence, as described below.

Knowledge

The candidate will be able to:

• explain how group projects are organized and executed,
• understands the function of projects in solving technical problems or other challenges in industry, business or public organizations.

Skills

The candidate will be able to:

• analyze different types of technical challenges, and solve these in a group project context, based on fundamental, advanced and specialized knowledge,
• plan and call for project meetings, to chair project meetings, and to write minutes of meetings – in accordance with established project routines,
• plan the execution of a technical project by establishing a time schedule of the project, using Gantt diagrams or similar aids,
• search, analyze and critically review different sources of information, and is able to use such information in structuring and formulating technical problem descriptions and project goals,
• apply universally accepted methods of citation and referencing of scientific sources,
• work safely in laboratories, in accordance with HES (Health-Environment-Safety) procedures, in projects involving laboratory work,
• structure and write a technical project report in agreement with established standards and templates.

General competence

The candidate will be:

• able to analyze topics in a project in an ethical context,
• able to solve advanced tasks also in new areas by applying acquired knowledge and skills in a teamwork situation and by taking part in creative thinking processes,
• competent in communicating results from the project work, orally and in using modern visualization tools.

Course Description

This is a course in practical project work, preferably in co-operation with industry, and insofar as possible of an inter-disciplinary nature. The assignments will normally be of a nature that requires the use of knowledge from different subject areas, and the project groups may consist of students drawn from different departments. Assignments can also be research-related and be carried out within the different research groups in the departments. The assignments may necessitate that the students attain theoretical understanding within a specific subject field not covered in the ordinary courses. The work may be of theoretical, experimental, and/or practical nature. In some cases one single student may be allowed to carry out a project alone. Routines of planning, chairing and writing minutes of project meetings will be applied. Planning and execution of the project will be facilitated by the use of Gantt diagrams. The work will be documented in a project report and will involve oral presentation and examination of the results.

Teaching and Learning Methods

An online, part-time version of the SCE study programme will start Fall 2015. The present course will be taught online from the fall/spring semester year YYYY. However, the course will continue to be taught also as a traditional campus-based course. The course contents and learning material used in the course will be the same in both programmes, except that in the online programme, the lectures will be in the form of offline video-based lectures, and laboratory assignments will be organized at a gathering on the campus at the end of the semester.

Assessment Methods

The results of the work shall be documented in a written report. Grades will be awarded based on the project process (15 %), the project report (40 %), an oral presentation (10 %) and examination of the work (35 %). The percentage score (0-100 %) for each of the four parts will be used to calculate the overall grade (A-F) as a weighted average. Students must pass (i.e. get a score of at least 40 % on) all four parts to get a grade in the course. The evaluation of the written report will be the same for all students, whereas individual evaluation is given in the other parts. If different individual grades are awarded within a project group, a justification is required.

The project process, the project report, the oral presentation and the exam will jointly measure knowledge, skills and general competence.

Minor adjustments may occur during the academic year, subject to the decision of the Dean