Introduction to university work in social sciences

Teacher(s)

Dejean Karine (coordinator); Dufrasne Marie;

Language

French

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

ITUSS is the first UE of the methodology programme. Its learning objectives are related to the initiation to the profession of student in social and political sciences, in its dimensions of affiliation to the University, of the relationship with scientific knowledge and of the skills in methodology of academic work. The course is designed to provide students with an introduction to the profession of social and political science in terms of its affiliation to the University, its relationship with scientific knowledge and its skills in the methodology of academic work: 1. be familiar with the basics of the academic and scientific posture of knowledge of the social and political world, and be able to distinguish it from other postures and adopt it; 2. will be familiar with the conditions of production of scientific knowledge and will be more particularly able to : a) distinguish a scientific discourse from a discourse of common sense, and characterise these two types of discourse (or knowledge) b) step back from their own common sense representations; c) reflect on the question of objectivity in social and political sciences d) understand the roles of theory and empiricism in the scientific process of knowledge; 3. be introduced to the critical reading of social and political science texts and be able to a) recognize a scientific text in relation to other types of sources b) prioritise the sources he/she uses to carry out an academic work; c) apply the reading strategies that enable a thorough understanding of a scientific text, i.e. to i. develop a situated reading of the text; 1. identify the source and type of text 2. assess the credibility of the source 3. situate the text in relation to reading objectives, the level of difficulty of the text and prior knowledge ii. perform external operations of appropriation of a scientific text ; 1. determine the status of the text 2. question the context of the text iii. perform internal operations of appropriation of a scientific text ; 1. discern the theme of the text and the author's thesis 2. identify the argumentation and its main milestones 3. identify the key concepts and notions 4. identify references to different authors 5. make inferences (identify implicit information) d) report on their understanding of texts in a structured way, i.e. produce a critical synthesis of a social and political science text; 4. be able to use the bibliographical resources available to them in accordance with the rules of scientific ethics, and more particularly to : a) make citations ; b) write a bibliographic reference in accordance with the available systems of conventions c) identify plagiarism; 5. be aware of what is expected of the student in Block 1 in terms of understanding examination instructions and writing answers, i.e. be able to a) categorise the different types of examination questions and identify the cognitive operations to be mobilised (definition, comparison, analysis, application...); b) identify the characteristics of a good examination answer; understand the meta instructions that make explicit the teacher's expectations for answering an examination question.

Content

The course is structured in three parts:

Part 1: The characteristics of the academic and scientific posture in social and political sciences
- Science and other discourses of truth
- Three characteristics: Humility, honesty and caution, methodical progression

Part 2: The conditions of production of social and political science knowledge
- The relationship of the academic and the scientist to common sense
- The question of objectivity in social and political science
- The roles of theory and empirical research in the scientific process of knowledge

Part 3: The methodological skills of the student profession
- The in-depth reading of scientific texts
- Critical synthesis of scientific texts
- Referencing bibliographic sources
- Understanding the instructions of an examination

Teaching methods

The UE will include:
- an alternation between lectures (with the entire auditorium), practical work sessions in small groups (of twenty or so students) and individual support (campus-based and distance);
- an alternation between lectures and moments of participation;
- reading of texts to understand (decode) and reproduce (re-encode) in a guided or autonomous manner (personal reading).

Evaluation methods

The assessment of the EU will be individual and continuous. Four assessment moments are foreseen during the term:
1. An out-of-session theoretical written examination (worth 40% of the final mark) on the material taught in the first two parts of the course
2. A referencing exercise (10%): it will aim at mastering the modes of notation of bibliographic references
3. A written synthesis test on a text that has been the subject of a guided reading (20%): this will consist of producing a report answering a question. The students will be given a written report (A4 recto format) which they will have prepared themselves during a practical course at the time of the test. The students will have the possibility to retake this test to improve their grade (the better of the two grades will be retained).
4. A final individual written work (30%): it will include:
? a portfolio of the preparations made for the practical work ;
? a synthesis of the last two texts seen in the practical exercises;
? the perfectly correct referencing of the bibliographic sources used, respecting the conventions.
The EU proposes a continuous assessment. Participation in the four parts of the assessment is compulsory. This means that any absence must be duly justified (by providing a certificate of illness to the ESPO faculty administration with a copy to the course teachers). Unjustified absence from any part of the assessment will result in a final mark of 0/20 for the course, which means that the student will be automatically referred to a later session for the whole course. Please refer to the Implementing Provisions of the General Study and Examination Regulations for the Bachelor programmes of the Faculty of Economic, Social and Political Sciences and Communication in Title III, article 6 paragraphs 1, 2, 3; and article 8. This document is available on the University website and on the course Moodle.

The student may, however, choose not to present one or more parts of the assessment, but in this case must make a note of attendance by physically arriving at the scheduled assessment time and explicitly indicating this. He/she will then receive a mark of 0 for that part(s) of the assessment.

In case of failure of the UE at the end of the first term, i.e. a final mark lower than 10/20, the student will have to retake this UE at a later session. He or she will have to re-sit the part(s) of the continuous assessment (written exam, referencing test, synthesis test, individual written work) for which he or she has obtained a mark lower than 10/20, and only this part(s). Only marks equal to or higher than half the points are retained from one session to the next.

In the event of failure of the written examination (and a final mark of less than 10/20): students must retake the written examination in a subsequent session.

In case of failure of the referencing and/or synthesis tests (and a final mark lower than 10/20): the marks for the referencing test and for the synthesis test are kept only if the student has passed both tests. If the student fails one or both tests, he or she must retake both tests.

In the event of failure of the final paper (and a final mark of less than 10/20): students must rework their entire final paper and submit it according to the same instructions as for the January session.

A more detailed 'Assessment Instructions' is available on Moodle.

Bibliography

Les supports obligatoires du cours sont les suivants :
- l’ouvrage de référence de l’UE : MARQUIS N., LENEL E., VAN CAMPENHOUDT L., 2018, Pratique de la lecture critique en sciences humaines et sociales, Paris, Dunod, 240 p. (service reprographie et librairies)
- un portefeuille de textes à lire et à mobiliser de manière accompagnée ou autonome (service reprographie et Moodle)
- les diaporamas utilisés lors des séances magistrales et des travaux pratiques (Moodle) ;
- les fiches du Guide « Devenir étudiant universitaire » vues au cours et en TP (Moodle).

Faculty or entity

> ESPB