Dissertation and dissertation support seminar 1

Language

French

Learning outcomes

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

Competency 1 - Develop communication strategies which integrate the various aspects of digital culture.   Learning outcome 1. Critically analyse the communication of an organisation, taking into account its sector of activity and its social, cultural, technological, economic, political and legal context. Competency 4 - Mobilise and produce knowledge in communication strategy and digital culture in a substantiated and methodical manner, as part of a critical reflection or research project. Learning outcomes 1. Possess thorough knowledge of the main theoretical and methodological approaches to research on communication and digital culture. 2. Based on multidisciplinary knowledge, develop a critical and substantiated reflection on digital technologies and their human and societal issues. 3. Conduct an original research project, using a variety of well-chosen theoretical, methodological and technological resources. 4. Report on research and its results in a clear, coherent and structured manner, both in writing and orally, in accordance with the requirements of academic communication. 5. Based on research findings, make recommendations for the organisation's communication strategy and/or design new communication tools or practices. 6. Update one’s knowledge and practices by implementing methods and techniques to monitor communication and digital trends and innovations.

Content

The master’s thesis is, along with the internship, a culmination of the graduate training. Through the master’s thesis, the student demonstrates his or her ability to produce original knowledge through a personal research work based on theoretical, methodological and critical elements of the discipline. The master’s thesis demonstrates the student’s ability to formalize a research question, construct a line of reasoning, synthesize complex material, analyze a body of data, and report on his/her work according to the formal requirements of academic writing and presentation.
The seminar aims to support the steps taken by the students in the context of their master’s thesis. In no way does it replace the follow-up of the student’s work by the promoter. The seminar is conceived as a space where the questions related to the intellectual and formal requirements of the thesis, the conceptualisation of the project and the practical organization of the different stages of the student’s progress can be discussed.

Teaching methods

The teaching unit articulates the following teaching methods:
- lectures (face-to-face or distance learning depending on the health situation);
- discussions (face-to-face or distance learning) based on students’ personal productions; the active participation of students is strongly encouraged;
- reading and discussion of a reference book as a compulsory course material (see bibliography).
Moodle is used for document sharing, submission of assignments and pedagogical communication with students.
There are two stages along the students’ path in this teaching unit.
1) The student has to outline the subject of the master’s thesis and confirm the choice of the promoter. This form must be signed by the promoter, who must indicate his or her agreement, with reasons. The form is not graded.
 
2) The students must then elaborate and write a research project that develops a series of choices (theoretical, methodological, ethical or other) related to their research approach. The research project must demonstrate significant progress in the research. It must be submitted during the month of May (exact date to be specified). The research project cannot be submitted if the subject and the choice of the promoter have not been validated beforehand (in this case, referral to the 2nd session).

Evaluation methods

The grading of the teaching unit ‘Master’s thesis and accompanying seminar 1’ is carried out by the promoter of the thesis on the basis of the research project submitted by the student. The evaluation grid used by the promoters explains the evaluation criteria and their respective weightings. It is communicated to the students during the seminar.
In concrete terms, the first session is organized as follows:
- The ‘thesis form’ must be submitted at the earliest in the week following the start of the second semester (February, exact date to be specified). The form is not graded but must be signed by the promoter in order to be validated. The subjects and the choice of promoters are ratified at the Master's Council in March.
- The research project must be submitted during the month of May (exact date to be specified). The research project cannot be submitted if the subject and the choice of the promoter have not been validated beforehand (in this case, the project will be sent back to the 2nd session).
The second session is organized as follows:
- The ‘thesis form’ is to be submitted in May (exact date to be specified) for validation by the Master’s Council in May.
- The research project must be submitted at the beginning of the second session (date in August to be specified). It cannot be submitted if the ‘thesis form’ has not been validated beforehand. The teaching unit is therefore failed (0/20).
Students are expected to strictly follow the rules of citation and referencing as recalled during the seminar sessions, in the document Référencement des sources, citation et non-plagiat (available on Moodle), and in the Code of ethics regulating the writing of scientific works as annexed to the implementing provisions of the General Regulations for Studies and Exams for the Master's degree in Communication Strategy and Digital Culture. Any failure to apply these rules may lead to academic and/or disciplinary sanctions in accordance with the General Regulations for Studies and Exams.
The research project is a personal production. The use of generative AI is accepted as long as it is occasional, limited and explicitly stated. Any part of the work that relies on generative AI must be clearly identified by a footnote specifying which generative AI tool was used and how it was used in the part concerned.

Bibliography

Lecture obligatoire / Required reading :
SEURRAT, Aude (dir.), Écrire un mémoire en sciences de l'information et de la communication. Récits de cas, démarches et méthodes, Paris, PSN, 2014.
Lectures recommandées / Recommended readings :
BEAUD Michel, L’art de la thèse, éd. rev. et augm., Paris, La Découverte, 2006.
CISLARU Georgeta, CLAUDEL Chantal, VLAD Monica, L’écrit universitaire en pratique, 2ème édition, Bruxelles, De Boeck, 2011.
KLEIN Olivier, Quelques conseils et quelques astuces pour réussir sa défense de mémoire, Unité de Psychologie Sociale, Université libre de Bruxelles, non daté. Disponible en ligne à l’adresse https://cescup.ulb.be/3401-2/ (dernière consultation le 10 septembre 2020).
LAWRENCE, Olivier, BEDARD, Guy, FERRON, Julien, L’élaboration d’une problématique de recherche : Source, outils et méthode, Paris, L’Harmattan, 2005.
MANGALAZA Eugène Régis, Concevoir et réaliser son mémoire de master I et master II en sciences humaines et sociales, Paris, L’Harmattan, 2010.
VAN CAMPENHOUDT Luc, MARQUET Jacques, QUIVY Raymond, Manuel de recherche en sciences sociales, 5ème édition entièrement revue et augmentée, Malakoff, Dunod, 2017.

Faculty or entity

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